The Deaf Ranger
by scubagirl98
Summary: "Deaf people can do anything a hearing person can, except hear." This is a quote that Kate O'Malley takes to heart as she strives to become a Top Ranger. With her dear friends, Rythmi and Keith, will she accomplish those dreams, or will Team Dim Sun, a rising criminal syndicate, abash her hopes to pieces! Rated T because, hey, stuff happens. Main pairings: KatexKeith and more!:)
1. My Rude Awakening

**The Deaf Ranger**

**Hey guys, so in the story, I will be using deaf characters and using italics to display when they are signing and normal when they are speaking. Side note, I will not be gloss when typing out the signs because it will be difficult to convey the tone. Thank you and enjoy!**

Kate's POV

**_Windtown, Fiore _**

I opened my eyes from slumber only to see my 4 year-old sister, Jamie, do a surprisingly powerful elbow drop on my poor stomach. I involuntarily groaned and rolled over to see the culprit.

_"What was that for?! You could've shaken me awake" _I furiously signed to my sister, who just wore a smirk on her face.

_"I did, you were still asleep. Besides, it was fun to do that,"_ Jamie's smirk still proudly showing on her lips as she skipped out of my room.

I rolled my eyes as I rummaged my nightstand for my hearing aid. You heard right, folks, I'm deaf. Okay, technically speaking, I'm hard of hearing since my left ear can pick up a little sound. It's like hearing you TV on medium-low volume through a pillow; you can pick up some sound, but the rest sounds muffled.

Once I found it, I glanced at the calendar; today's date had a huge red circle with a smiley face. My blue eyes widened at the memory that today was the day I was going to the RangerSchool in Almia!

I ran around the room getting ready and packing the rest of my things in my duffel bag and nearly fell down the stairs.

_"Morning, Dad," _I signed as I took my seat at the cedar table.

"Kate," My dad shouted, "You have 25 minutes to make it to the ferry in FallCity!"

I cursed myself and grabbed my duffel bag while kissing my father good-bye. I bolted out to stables and saddled up my rapidash and left my home on Sekra Range. As I passed the ranger base, Ranger Leader Elita stopped me.

_"What's the rush, Kate?" _Her normally cold face showed a small smile.

_"I'm about to miss the ferry going to Almia. Today's my first day at Ranger School and of course I would wake up late."_

Elita's smile grew wider, _"I knew it was something important. Now I don't do this for everybody, but considering that I won't see you until Christmas, I'll let you ride on Skarmory."_

A flood of relief washed over me. _"Thank you so much! I promise it'll just me to Fall City."_

Her eyebrows rose up, _"Hon, I won't allow you to ride some dirty, old ferry. You're riding Skarmory all the way to the school gates."_

I jumped off of the horse Pokémon and embraced her, my thanks poured out in stammers and stutters. Elita looked down on me with not a motherly smile, more like that "cool-aunt-you-can't-wait-to-see-during-the-holidays" smile.

I leaped onto the steel-bird Pokémon and soared to the sky. A new chapter of my life has just begun, and boy was it going to be eventful.

**A.N ****So, what did you think? If you have any comments or suggestions, click the little review button at the bottom of the screen and type it out. If all you're going to do is complain, go find another story. Contructive criticism is more than welcomed (just try to word it nicely for me please) Y'all are awesome and another update will be here before you know it. Tata!:)**


	2. The First Day Fight

**The First Day Fight**

Kate's POV

I landed outside the school gates an hour later and two teachers met me outside.

"Hello, my name is Ms. Claire, you must be Kate O'Malley," the lady in the blue hat introduced.

I smiled and nodded, I could understand her, but just barely. I hopped off Skarmory and she took off for Windtown. I followed the two teachers, the male one was talking to me, but I couldn't understand him for the life of me.

"Excuse me," they both turned around to face me, "Where are we going?"

The male teacher looked at me with a raised eyebrow, he was about to repeat himself, but he stopped as he saw me put in new batteries in my hearing aid.

"Are you deaf, Kate?" I bit me lip and nodded, I was scared that they were going to tell me that deaf people couldn't become rangers.

He looked surprised, yet regained composure, "Oh, okay. I'm Mr. Kaplan and we're going to the Poke Assist shed so we can see how well you can capture a Pokémon."

"Sounds fun," I was smiling to myself, so far so good.

Once we were at the shed, they handed me a styler and released a Pikachu. I thought back to all the captures I had seen Elita and Silent Chris complete and attempted to copy their form. Before I knew it, I had finished and Kaplan looked at me with shock.

"How did I do?" I was nervous that I had messed up.

Ms. Claire looked at me with a smile and said, "Hon, you've beat the previous record by 5 seconds! You captured the Pikachu in 10 seconds!"

My jaw dropped to nearly the floor. I barely noticed another woman had entered the room, until she started yelling at Kaplan.

"Don't scare my new student like that, you know better!"

Then she turned to me and smiled, "You must be Kate O'Malley."

"Yes, ma'am, I just got her 10 minutes ago." She seemed really nice and prayed to Arceus that she was my teacher.

"I'm your teacher, my name is Ms. April. I hope you'll love it here."

"So far, I love it here." I thought my smile would pop off my face it was so huge.

When we walked to the classroom, she told me to wait outside until she introduced me.

I could hear through the door as she told the class to calm down, "Alright class, calm down. Keith, I'm talking to you."

"So when do we see our new classmate, Miss?" The voice I had assumed was Keith's spoke out.

His outburst caused a chain reaction of students asking questions about me. The room, once again, rose with activity. That is until…

"SILENCE," Ms. April's booming voice nearly made me fall over, "There, now, instead of asking me about our new student, why don't y'all ask her yourself."

I took that as the signal; I opened the door and walked into the room and up the aisle, putting off a fake air of confidence. I turned around the face the class and felt like I was shrinking to the size of a rattata.

"Kate, why don't you introduce yourself to us," Ms. April gave a gentle nudge of confidence towards me.

I rolled my shoulders back,"My name is Kate O'Malley; I live at the base of Sekra Range in Windtown, Fiore. I came here by myself on Elita's Skarmory," Someone raised their hand, but I interrupted them, "Don't ask me how that happened, it's a long story. I dream of being a Top Ranger and I'm deaf." I took out my hearing aid for effect.

"Thank you, Kate. You can sit next to Keith at that table." She directed me to the table where a guy with spiky, red hair and green eyes. I nodded and took my seat.

"Now that's all for me treating you like a new student, now all of you are my students that I take pride in. May you all accomplish your dreams of being operators, mechanics, and rangers!" Ms. April dismissed the class and ran me through the basics of class and what we were doing. She then handed me over to a girl named Rythmi, a girl with wavy, blonde hair, who was going to give me a tour of the whole school.

"Hi, my name is Rythmi and I'll be showing you around the-"then a voice interrupted her.

"Hey, new chick," Keith hopped off a desk and Rythmi pinched the bridge of her nose, "How long did it take you to capture that Pikachu, like an hour?"

I rolled my eyes, "No it took me 10 seconds, and now if you'll excuse us," I gestured to Rythmi and me, "I have a school I have to see." I pushed past him and left the room.

I turned around to see Rythmi laughing, "What? Did I do something wrong?"

It took her a minute to catch her breath, "No, it's just that his face when you told him off was priceless! You and I are going to be best friends, Alley Cat."

I raised my eyebrows at her, "Why 'Alley Cat'?"

"I'll explain later, right now let's go tour the school, okay?"

I laughed and agreed with her and we went on our merry way, until we stopped by Kincaid's room.

"Beware," Rythmi warned, "Kincaid puts this hairspray in his hair that smells like the tears and death of children and his personality is one of the worst that I've seen in my life."

"Something tells me that we're going to argue a lot." I took a deep breath as I walked inside.

Kincaid just looked at me with disdain and said, "Who are you, Miss, can't you see I'm teaching a class." The "class" was either asleep or obviously preoccupied.

I ignored his rude comment, "I'm Kate O'Malley, and I'm the new student here." I smiled smugly at him.

"Oh, you're that new deaf student that, by some shear act of stupidity, got accepted." His words cut me like a knife.

"Sir," I attempted to keep a lid on my ever-famous temper," A deaf person can do anything a hearing person can, except hear." I then walked out the room and out of the building, letting my words hang in the air.

Rythmi followed me outside where I heard a cry for help, I ran to the center of the grounds where I saw the care-taker lady, Janice I think her name was, panicking. She spoke way too fast for me to comprehend her, but I got the gist of the situation. A bunch of bidoof had scattered away and I took it upon myself to capture them, then I heard a voice ring out.

"Yo, what's going on?" Lo and behold, it was Keith.

"Keith, now is not the time to goof off, help Kate capture all the bidoof!" Rythmi had a tough time restraining herself from smacking Keith upside the head.

"Hey new girl, let's make this interesting. First one to capture the most bidoof wins." Keith's smirk was evident in his voice

I smirked back, "You're on, buddy!"

"Alright on the count of 3, 1…2….3," Keith and I kept eye contact throughout the countdown.

We both took off like lightning after those bidoof. At one point I tripped over a rock and scraped up my ankle pretty bad but I kept running on. At the end, I lost 4-5, but I didn't care. Keith did a happy dance while Rythmi and I laughed at him. Although, our little parade was rained on by Kincaid, my guard immediately shot up.

"Well, well, well, looks like you're not totally worthless after all." I was about to refute his obnoxious statement, but he held up his hand, "But, even on the slight chance you do graduate, I can guarantee that no base will want a useless, deaf girl as their ranger." Again his words sliced through me like a double-edge sword.

"Hey! Leave off her okay!" I was surprised that Keith was the first to step up for me.

"Yeah, she has as much an opportunity to be here as much as anybody else!" Rythmi's voice also defended me.

Kincaid just left in a huff and my eyes built up tears against my will and Rythmi and Keith gave me a hug.

"I want to show you one last place," Rythmi led me down to a steep staircase to which I protested.

"Ryth, I can't walk down a staircase, I messed up my ankles during the capture contest." I looked at my ankle, it was purple, red, and black; three colors that don't look good on an ankle.

"Omg, I'm so sorry, let's go fix you up." Rythmi nearly pulled my arm out of my socket.

"Ryth! It's okay, I have first aid stuff in my bag that I can use. We'll go see what y'all want to show me tomorrow." I smiled at both of them and we went back to the dorms where it finally hit me.

"Hey guys, I don't know who I'm rooming with!"

Keith was chuckling, "Well I do", He gestured into his room where my duffel bag laid on the top bunk.

My eyes widened like dinner plates and I closed my and signed, _"Oh shit!"_

**A.N ****Hey guys! How did y'all like it? Please leave all comments, constructive criticism, and all questions in the review section. Also, in this story, Kate will have her hair down because her age is 15-16 and I don't think pigtails fit the picture, so instead of that, her hair will in a single ponytail. Plus, I forgot to do the disclaimer so; I do not own Pokémon or the characters, if I did, Kate and Keith would be canon. Au revoir! **


	3. The Test of Bravery and Bonding

**The Test of Bravery and Bonding**

Keith's POV

When I saw her sign, "_Oh shit!" _I almost burst into laughter, it was funny to see her so mad and frustrated. I knew why she had to room with me though; there weren't enough girl dorms for her so she had to reside with the boys. It's happened before, on both sides, so I wasn't too concerned.

I flopped on my bottom bunk and watched her unpack, I was bored, but not to the point that I was going to study. She didn't pack a lot, all her stuff fit into one bag; I could tell that she was an expert traveler. She hopped on my bed and asked, "Do you mind?"

She pointed to her ankle with her first aid kit.

"Sure, go for it." I hopped off the bed to give her space. I saw that she finally changed out of her jeans and boots into the school uniform. Kate had a bunch of scars of different variety on them and along her arms, and not one looked self-inflicted. "What's with all the scars? Are you accident prone or something?"

She looked up after finishing bandaging her ankle and looked at her arms and legs, "Yeah, I'm accident prone, but some of the scars I got while I was working in Windtown."

"What all did you do there?" Now this girl had my curiosity

"Oh, odds and ends; usually if there's a maintenance problem at the base, I usually fix it." She pointed to a long, jagged scar on her right arm, "That's how I got this, I was climbing and ac duct because there was a blockage and I scraped my arm in a piece of scrap metal in there." She pointed to a burn scar on her arm and her leg, "During the summer, I have a steady job teaching people how to ride rapidash and one time when the Go Rock Squad was coming to power, one of the grunts freaked out my Rapidash and she burned me with a Flamethrower near my house."

"I'm sorry, Kate," for some reason I felt sympathy toward her. "Why don't you get your scars removed?"

"Keith, they're my badges of honor; each one has a unique story and removing it would be like removing a part of me."

"Ahh makes sense. So how did you become deaf? Don't try to tell me you were born like that you speak too well for someone who grew up deaf."

"Well, technically speaking, I'm hard of hearing because I have some hearing in my left ear and I can speak, but it's just easier to say deaf, it gets the point across. As for when I lost it, I was 7 years old and I was helping my dad fix an old truck and while I was checking out the water content, my father accidently set off the car alarm and I lost my hearing in my right ear."

Kate's eyes had a different story to tell, besides I didn't want to press her too much; she already has had a rough day. I decided to let her in on 2 secrets, "Alley Cat," she frowned at me, "I'm going to let you in on something, 1. These beds are detachable so we're going to your bed down so that way I won't have to wake up Janice at o'dark thirty; 2. I know sign language. My cousin is deaf and he taught me the whole shebang."

Kate's eyes lit up as she helped me take down the top bunk and put across from mine.

"_You really know ASL?"_ Her signs were so fluid and clear.

"_Yes, I just told I did and I'm a man of my word." _

"_The 'man' part is still debatable,"_ she laughed when she saw my frown,_ "So what's with you and Ryth calling me 'Ally Cat'?"_

"_It's a Disney movie thing,"_ I looked at my alarm clock, _"Shoot, we're late, we have to go!"_

"_Go where? It's 11:30!"_

"_You'll find out soon enough,"_ I grabbed her wrist and drug her out of the room.

Once we were in the Commons Area, we were greeted by the entire student body.

"Arceus, Keith, took you long enough," said Ponte, the conflicted marshmallow boy.

"Shut up, Ponte, I was helping Kate unpack." I glared at him, daring him to make another comment.

"Anywho, we're here tonight to see Kate complete the Test of Courage and Bravery." Rythmi whispered-yelled, "Kate it's quite simple, 4 of us have hidden our stylers in the Library, Office, Ms. April's room, and Mr. Kincaid's. After that, you must drop all of the stylers in front of the door in the basement. For safety reasons, the person sitting next to you will go with you."

"Dammit, that means I have to go," I muttered some curses under my breath, "Alright, Alley Cat, let's get this over with."

"What is with everyone calling me Alley Cat, is it some secret code or something?!" Kate threw up her hands in exasperation and followed me down the stairs.

When we got to the bottom, I yelled out in surprise, I saw something move in the main hallway. Kate came up behind me and slapped the back of my head and whisper-yelled, "What the hell was that? Keith, the whole point of sneaking around is to be quiet, not yell at the top of our lungs!"

"Well sorry, something moved and it scared me." I pointed to the thing that moved.

"Oooooh a Bidoof, so scary, I'll save you, Keith!" I rolled my eyes at her; she was so immature at times.

"Whatever, let's just get this finished with." I led her to Ms. April's room. I opened my mouth to tell her the clue, but she jumped over the boxes and snatched the styler off the desk. She ran back and did a back flip over a box, "I got it, let's go to Kincaid's room."

"How the hell did you find it?" I swore she didn't see the others putting the stylers in place.

"I saw the moonlight reflect off of the styler, when I lost my hearing; I learned to rely on my other senses. Before getting my hearing aid, I talked in conversations by reading people's lips and watching their facial expression." Kate ran ahead of me and tripped over a loose board, but did a perfect front flip recovery.

In the reflection of the moonlight, I saw a 3 inch-long scar run down from the bottom of her ear to the back of the her neck. I had a feeling that there were more stories to how she lost her hearing than she was leading on. By the time I reached Kincaid's door, Kate already had the styler in hand, "Come on, slowpoke; now off to library!"

Kate ran off with me on her 6, when we got to library; the door was locked. "Hold on, Keith," she pulled out a pocket knife and a bobby pin and started to pick the lock," Almost there….. And we're in." She pushed back the door with a smirk playing on her lips.

"Why do have a pocket knife and how did you learn to pick a lock?" I was pretty shocked that a seemingly 'innocent' girl kept a knife and could pick a lock with the skills of a criminal.

"Rule number 9; always have a knife and I got locked in an air vent while trying to get more info on Go Rock so I had to unscrew a vent so I could exit, now if you'll excuse me..." She leaped over the book shelves to get the stylers while trying to avoid the Zubats.

"Well, all we have left is the office so let's go." I led her to the office and locked the library door back up.

In the office, I grabbed Kate's shoulder, "Okay, the clue for this room is that the styler doesn't stay still."

Kate took a look at the Pichu at the other side of the table and took off after it. She chased it for a good 5 minutes. Kate almost had it until the Pokémon ran between my legs and she ran into me. The impact moved us a good 3 feet and left us in a compromising position.

"Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry, Keith!" She was stammering out apologies when I stopped her, "Kate, I accept you apology, but could you please get off so we can take down that Pichu?"

Only then did she realize our position, she was on top of me with our faces centimeters apart. She blushed deep rouge and quickly got off of me. I ran up one side of the table while she took the other; effectively trapping the electric mouse. Kate relieved Pichu of his job and we travelled down to the basement.

"Okay, all you have to do is drop the stylers here and we're gone."

"Ghasttttt"

"Keith, did you hear that?" Kate started to reach for her styler.

"GHASTLY!" A bunch of Ghastly popped out, nearly making me scream. Yet Kate wasn't fazed, she captured them with ease and released them.

The basement door opened and Kincaid stepped out, "Who goes there?"

"Run for it!" I ran out as Kate dropped the stylers and followed suit. We didn't stop until we reached the Commons Area where there was a party. Kate looked surprised as Rythmi came up and said, "Congrats, Alley Cat; you're now an official Ranger School Student!"

I stopped Rythmi, "Thanks for the party, Ryth; but Kincaid almost caught us and he might come up and bust us all for being out late!"

"Alright guys, y'all heard Keith, pack it up and be quick about it!"

All of the students went back to their respective dorms including Kate and I. I just flopped on the bed as Kate went to go change. She came out in an old t-shirt that said "KATE'S RAPIDASH RODEO!" and a pair of baggy sweat pants. She came over to my bed and gave me a hug, "Thanks for coming with m today, and for standing up for me."

"No prob, what are friends for?" I was about to go to sleep when she asked.

"Keith, why do you and Rythmi call me 'Alley Cat'?" She looked over at me while she re-wrapped her ankle.

I smirked with my eyes closed, "That, Alley Cat, is a secret that you'll have to figure out for yourself."

I heard her huff, "Keith, you're so infuriating! Good night."

"Night, Alley Cat." I switched off the lights and allowed my dreams to rock me into gentle slumber.

**A.N. So what did y'all think? Leave all comments and suggestions in the review box! Also, whoever finds the NCIS reference gets a shout out next chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; if I did Shadows of Almia would be its own TV show! Auf Weidersein! **


	4. Outdoor Class and Something Else

**Outdoor Class and Something Else**

Kate's POV

A few weeks have passed since the Test of Bravery and quite frankly they've been amazing. I received a letter from Jamie saying how she and Dad are thinking about moving to Chicole Village. She sent me a picture of my Rapidash so that I could see he was doing well. I showed Keith and Rythmi the picture she sent and I sent my family a picture of us by the statue in Ascension Square; we took that picture 2 days after the test and we pledged that no matter what, we'd always be best friends.

On Friday, everyone was really jumpy and excited for some reason. I took my seat next to Keith, who looked like he was about to explode. Ms. April came in and gave her usual morning spiel on we should never lose hope for our dreams. Then she said that today was Outdoor Class; to which the class erupted in cheers and made my hearing aid go on the fritz. After she told us to go to Ascension Square, I pulled Keith back because Rythmi already took off with Isaac.

"_What's 'Outdoor Class'?"_ Keith's eyes nearly burst out of his eye sockets.

"_You don't know what Outdoor Class is?!" _ I solemnly shook my head no.

"_I'm new and nobody told me, like how you and Ryth have yet to tell me why y'all call me Alley Cat."_

"_Okay, Outdoor Class is when an area ranger comes in and we get to ask him questions. It gives us a glimpse of what being a ranger is really like."_

"_Sounds like fun! Come on, Keith, we're going to be late!" _I took off like a shot and nearly tripped and fell down the staircase, again.

When Keith and I finally caught up with the group, I saw my cousin, Crawford standing in the middle of the circle. He ran up to me and tackled me in a Ursaring hug.

"How are you doing, Rider?" He rubbed the top of my hair, effectively messing up my near-perfect ponytail.

I swatted his hand away, "I'm fine, but we'll have to catch up later, you have a class to teach."

The students began to bombard the poor guy with all types of questions. They were talking so fast I couldn't understand them. Then Crawford's styler went off and his leader Barlow said to save an injured Mantine I think, I couldn't hear much because the batteries were dying. Luana came up to the dock and Crawford hopped on with all the girls screaming, "PLEASE SAVE THE MANTINE!"

Ms. April came up to the students and said that we had another free day, also to not forget to call our parents about our Christmas vacation. Now this I knew about because Keith and Rythmi wouldn't stop talking about it. I grouped back up with Ryth and Keith and we decided to just chill out near the statue and bond.

Ryth told us that she was born in Nimbasa City, Unova and was raised there until she came here. Keith told us that his parents were divorced and he lived with his grandparents, "It was actually really cool, my grandpa was a war veteran and he would always show me his battle regalia. One time he even let me try on his dressed blues!"

Ryth and I gave him a hug, then we saw Isaac come out to join us; I noticed that he sat really close to Rythmi. I made a mental note to give her grief over that later. I told the group the story of how I got the thin scar that traced down my jawbone, "I was grooming Elita's Skarmory when she threw one of her tantrums she does when she's around anybody besides Silent Chris and Elita. That Skarmory threw a Steel Wing in my direction and one grazed my jawbone."

"Oh you poor dear," Rythmi gave me a large hug and Isaac and Keith patted my back.

"It's okay, guys. It didn't hurt that much. So what are y'all going to do over vacation?"

Isaac piped up, "I'm going to Pueltown to visit my sister and grandma. What about you, Rythmi, my dear?"

Rythmi's cheeks turned a bright red hue, "I'm g-going to Nimbasa City to visit the army that is my cousins."

"How many cousins do you have, Ryth?" I was thinking 20-30

"16, which doesn't sound like a lot, but when you have to watch every single one of them, it is a lot of kids!" Even now Rythmi looked exasperated.

"What about you, Keith?" I looked to him and saw a flash of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm going back to my grandparents for Christmas." I had a feeling there's more to this than he's giving us.

"Well, y'all already know I'm going back to Windtown to celebrate with my family."

Then the dinner bell sounded, Isaac stood ad helped Rythmi up while Keith and I got up on our own. They took off on their own while I pulled Keith back. "Keith, there's more to the story than you're telling isn't there?"

Keith looked out to the ocean, "My grandma died of a heart attack a couple of years ago and my grandfather followed suit a few days after I came here."

I pulled him into a gentle embrace and I felt a few tears slip from his eyes. When we let go he said, "Dammit Alley Cat, you're not supposed to see me like this." He wiped the stray tears away from his eyes.

"Keith," He looked back at me, "What if I told you that you could come home with me for the holidays?"

"Alley Cat, I can't do that."

"Sure you can, in fact you will. Now come on, dinner's ready and I'm hungry!" I ran off while I heard Keith chuckling from behind me. This was going to be a fun situation to explain to Dad and Jamie, but I can do that later, all that mattered was that Keith was going to have a home for the holidays.

**A.N. So what did y'all think? I got the idea of the vacation from RileySky's story, **_**Metallic**_**, which y'all should totally check out. The contest is still up and running and I've decided to give y'all a GIGANTIC hint; think old movies. Well that's all- crap, almost forgot to do the disclaimer, Kate, could you do the honors? **

**Kate:**_ scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon or the characters for if she did, she'd be rolling in the dough. Adios!"_


	5. My Trip from Grace

**A.N. Okay, I know I usually do these at the end of the chapter, but I have a winner for the contest and it is *opens shiny envelope* fennikenfan! Congratulations! Y'all should totally check out their profile! Don't worry if you didn't win this contest, the one for the NCIS reference in chapter 3 is still running and I'll have more as the story continues. Anywho, ONTO THE STORY!**

**My Trip from Grace**

Kate's POV

One week after Outdoor Class, everyone was packing for vacation. Rythmi, Isaac, Keith, and I were all walking to Pueltown Harbor together. Isaac left first, since his house is there, but not before he gave Rythmi a kiss on the cheek; which left her redder than a Blaziken's fire.

"Oooooh, Rythmi is getting some action," Keith cat-called.

"Shut up, Keith! When will poor Kate some action, hmm?" Now it was her turn to smirk.

I stepped in to stop the oncoming fight, "Guys, this is not the time. Besides, Ryth, isn't that your boat over there?"

"Oh Arceus, you're right!" Ryth gave each of us a hug, "I'll see you when I get back!"

"Bye Ryth! Have a safe trip!" I called over the salty breezes.

I looked to the sky in hopes of finding a certain Skarmory, "What are you looking for Alley Cat?"

I kept my eyes trained on the sky, "Our ride." If Elita didn't show up soon, I'd have to call my Uncle Spenser. Yes, Spenser as in the Spenser the ranger leader of Ringtown. He's my father's brother and Elita is my god-mother. Mom stepped out of the picture after I was born and Jamie's mom had birth complications and died soon after the birth. It was amazing how my father never turned to the bottle for remedial services.

My train of thought was interrupted by a Fearow's cry. Wait, FEAROW, that means-

"How's my favorite Ranger niece?" I turned around to face my green-haired uncle.

"UNCLE SPENSER!" I leapt into his arms and he spun me around.

He chuckled as he sat me down, "I missed you too, Rider." He looked over at Keith, "Who's your friend over here?"

I felt really bad, I forgot to introduce Keith, "Uncle, this is Keith; he's spending Christmas with me." I sent a silent message to Spenser to not ask why.

"Alrighty then, let's load up and get a move on." He loaded Keith's and mine duffel bags when a thought popped into my head.

"Where are we going Spenser?" I saw a small smile appear on his lips.

"You're dad wants me to drop you off in Windtown, but it seems I forgot my stuff to take with me, so we might have to take a side trip to Ringtown.'

I beamed, "Darn, well let's get a move on." I made sure the bags were securely in place, and then Spenser tossed me something, his styler!

"You wanna drive kiddo?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Is that even a question?" He opened his mouth to say something, "I know, I know; as long as Dad doesn't find out."

He rubbed my hair, ruining my ponytail, "That's my girl."

I took my seat on Fearow's back and his call seemed to say, "Well it's about damn time." And we flew off into the sky.

A half-hour later, we were in Ringtown. I hopped off and Spenser followed suit, he ran in to pack and Solana and Lunick came out to greet us.

"Oh my Mewtwo, is that you, Rider?" Solana looked at me in shock.

"In the flesh, by the way," I pointed to Keith, "This is my best friend, Keith."

Lunick acknowledged Keith with a nod, "I never thought I'd see the day where Rider would wear anything besides jeans and boots."

"Looks like you got your Christmas miracle, speaking of that; have you and Solana gotten together-mfgg" Lunick covered my mouth with his hand and whispered, "Keep quiet, I'm working on it." He removed his mouth, "Alright, but you have until Christmas before I say something." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Spenser came out with a duffel bag, and told Lunick that he was in charge for the time being. I hopped back on Fearow's back and took off for Windtown. I couldn't wait to see my Rapidash and get back into my jeans and boots. Maybe I'll show Keith a couple of my horse tricks.

When we got to Windtown, I was tackled by a small body. I opened my eyes to see two small, bright blue ones staring back. "Hey, Jamie," I groaned, "I guessed you missed me, huh?" She got up and nodded yes, she then reached up her arm which was my cue to pick her up. I bent down and picked her up and held her on my hip. Keith was chuckling at the whole scene, "Jamie, this is Keith. Keith, this is my little sister, Jamie."

As we unloaded, Elita and Silent Chris came out to help. Silent Chris took the bags and Elita came over to talk to me, "Little Jamie here was bouncing off the walls waiting for you. She hasn't even had her nap yet."

Jamie hung her head low, "Will you take a nap now that I'm here?"

Her eyes lit up and said, "Yay!"

I look around and I see a Rapidash coming toward us, then I realize it's my Rapidash! I hand Elita Jamie and I run to him. I pet his mane and nuzzle his neck. I load up our bags on his saddle, except for Spenser, who was going to stay at the Ranger Base, *wink wink*.

I hopped on the saddle and pulled up Keith while promising Jamie that I'd be back. I let Rapidash go full speed and Keith put his arms around my waist and nearly screamed his head off. I laughed with joy, this is my paradise! We arrived at my house in about 2 minutes. I helped Keith get off of the horse Pokémon and I dropped off my bags on the living room couch. I went out to the stables and I saw my dear old Dad. I sneaked up on Dad, or tried to. I was about 2 feet away when I heard my dad say, "Kate, I can hear you."

"Drat!" He turned around and hugged me after wiping his hands on a rag.

"Still working on the truck I see." He looked back at the truck and smiled.

"At this point, it's just a project I do when I'm bored. By the way, where's Keith; I want to meet this alleged 'best friend'?"

"Dad don't scare him, he's just my best friend!"

He smirked at me, "No promises."

Keith came over and introduced himself all gentlemanly, which was a total surprise to me. After that, they just hit it off like father and son. After a while, we went back to the base; Dad and Keith took the truck and I took my Rapidash. When I got there, Jamie was already fast asleep and everyone insisted I do some of my famous rapidash tricks.

I grabbed my bow and arrow from the closet of the base and changed into my boot cut jeans, cowboy boots, and a black button- down shirt. My dad saddled up my Rapidash and we set off to a little area just north of town where I gave my rodeos and riding lessons. I situated myself on the horse and urged it to start off at medium speed. After a few rounds, I stood up in the stirrups and started firing my arrows. Once I loosed 3, I stood up on top of the saddle and loosed another 3. Finally, I set my arrows on fire with his mane and loosed my final 3. I tossed the empty quiver and bow to Spenser and grabbed the horn of the saddle and swayed my body to each side of the horse.

I got myself back on the saddle and was getting ready for my discus part when all of the sudden, he bucked. He threw me off, but I a backflip-spin-backflip as a way to make it seem real. I heard a pop from the ankle I had injured 3 months ago, but I didn't care; I ran alongside him, trying to mount the Pokémon while he was moving. He sent me a Flamethrower and I did another backflip to dodge. I finally got on the horse and regained control; I felt some pent-up steam in him so I let him run full-speed around the arena. When I felt like I couldn't hold on much longer, I jumped and did a tuck 'n roll to the center of the arena.

After 5 minutes, he had calmed down and came to my 3 o'clock position. Everybody swarmed me with congratulations, but they backed up when the saw a burn from the base of my wrist to the middle of my forearm. Elita helped me get back on the horse and Keith held the reins as we walked back to the base where I'd be treated.

Once there, my father took Jamie home while Silent Chris treated me. Keith offered his hand to squeeze whenever it hurt and once Chris put on the burn salve, I almost turned his fingers purple. He wrapped my arm and deemed god to go; Keith and I headed back to the house, me on the saddle and him controlling the reins.

"Keith, I'm fine. It's just a little burn; it was my trip from grace." Keith looked at me like I was nuts.

"Alley Cat, that was not a 'trip' that was a full-blown fall!" I rolled my eyes as he laughed.

I looked up at the stars; finally, I could see the night sky clearly. It felt so good to be home.

**A.N. So I know y'all are wondering who I going to be Kate's partner Pokémon; but don't worry, I have a plan. Mwahahahahahahahaha! Also, I know I haven't thrown in a lot of sign language; there will be more in chapters to come. Also, the NCIS contest in chapter 3 is still running and I wanted to just say thank you to all my reviewers; I kid you not, when I checked them this morning, I did crazy happy dance. Y'all are awesome and before I forget; Jamie, could you do the disclaimer?**

**Jamie: Sure, scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon or the characters! Do I get a cookie now?**


	6. A Christmas Beneath the Stars

**A Christmas Beneath the Stars**

Kate's POV

A few days later, it was Christmas Eve; I was able to take off my bandages and the pale pink scar was in the wild design of a flame. I woke early, a shocker I know, and speedily got dressed in my boots and jeans with a t-shirt and old, insulated denim jacket with frayed holes. I left my hair down for the special occasion and decided against putting on makeup. I got downstairs only to find out that I was the last to wake up, again.

"She's ALIVE!" I laughed at my dad's antics; he always knew how to put a smile on my face. I hopped onto the counter and dangled my legs. Jamie came over and asked me to plait her hair into a Fioran braid (French braid). I brushed through her light brown hair and braided it to near perfection. She danced around the kitchen; spinning and twirling with a care. Her little dance was interrupted when Dad burnt his hand on the stove, "Son of a bitch!"

Jamie, being the 4 year-old she is, started repeating him. I stopped her by saying, "No no no no no, you can't say that, Hon. That's and adult word and once you say that, you can't play with your dolls anymore."

She looked horrified, "Oh my goodness (A.N. picture Shirley Temple saying this) I promise I'll never ever swear!"

I had to laugh, she was so cute! I ran out to the stables to feed my Rapidash when I saw Keith walking back with the feed bucket.

"If I didn't know better, then I'd think you're trying to replace me."

He laughed, "It may be true, Alley Cat."

I smiled, I finally understood the reference! Last night, I had trouble going to sleep last night so we watched "The Aristocats" where the main character is named O'Malley the Alley Cat. I like his song, "That I'm Abraham De Lacy, Giuseppe Casey, Thomas O'Malley; O'Malley the alley cat!" It was so nice that Keith stayed up with me, he really didn't have to do that, he's so sweet sometimes.

"Ready to go, Keith?" He set the feed bucket down.

"Almost, let me grab my bag." He ran inside.

I looked around; I loved all the snow that was falling down. I went over to my Rapidash, I had to make sure that he didn't pull a stunt like yesterday; especially since he's a part of Jamie's Christmas present. I heard my father call out for me; I saddled up and cantered over to the house. Keith looked surprised at the fact I was back on him, while Dad just looked proud. I agreed to hold Jamie on the horse with me with Dad and Keith held the reins.

About 10 minutes later, we arrived at a base. Spenser came out, "There's my brave girlie!"

Jamie hopped down and twirled all around, "Do you like my braid, Auntie?"

Elita looked surprised, "Yes, but where did this 'Aunt' business come from?"

Jamie looked at Spenser, "I thought you said that you and Elita were sweethearts?"

Spenser and Elita's faces both flushed red; this is why you never tell a 4 year-old secrets, she'll use 'em against you in a heartbeat. I raised my eyebrows at Jamie and told her and Keith my secret plan.

I took Jamie and Keith inside, claiming that Jamie needed some hot cocoa. I strategically placed a sprig of mistletoe on a rafter. Keith placed the contents of his bag, which were presents, under the tree, "You didn't have to get us anything."

"Sure I did, y'all are keeping me over for the holidays." He strategically placed the presents.

After a while, everyone came in and Spenser and Elita stood under the mistletoe,, oblivious as can be.

Dad saw the sprig and looked over at me and smiled, "Hey Spenser!"

"What's wrong? "

Dad pointed above their heads, "Look up."

They looked up and immediately pointed at me, "Why you little-!"

I looked at him innocently, "Who, little ol' me?"

"Uncle Spenser, you just got to kiss her!" Jamie put on her famous pout face.

"And why is that, dear?" Elita looked all flushed from the current events.

"Because once you do, you'll live happily ever after, Disney says so!" I swear, Jamie was going to be a match-maker someday.

Spenser looked lovingly at Elita, "Well, you can't argue with that kind of logic," and kissed her.

After a minute I cat-called, "Alright you two, save it later, we have a little kid here."

Spenser pointed at me, "Just remember, Kate you're next."

Jamie asked, "What does that mean?"

"Nothing that concerns you, hon. let's open presents now!" I gently urged her towards the mound of boxes.

I was on my last present, so far I had gotten a new bow and arrows from Spenser, a new pair of riding boots from Silent Chris, Elita had given me a new pocket knife with my nickname, Rider, engraved on it. Dad had gotten me a scrapbook filled with pictures that Jamie's mom took every time I got a new scar, it's a project she never got to finish and on the back page, she wrote a note while she was ill, "Kate, even though I know there are more scars to come, I want you to know that every time you get a scar, I'll be right beside you as your guardian angel." I didn't read it out loud because it brought me to tears. Jamie's mom had been with dad since I was 8, but they didn't marry until I was 10 and they waited a year before they had Jamie. Even when they were dating, she had always treated me like I was her own daughter. The first time I got a scar, I teared up because I thought she'd be mad. She just grabbed the camera and took a picture saying her little warrior just received his first badge of honor. I was devastated when she died, and Dad was too, he had just lost 2 wives.

Jamie's present also wrenched my heart; she gave me a locket with a picture of me teaching her how to walk. I gave her a hug and decided it was time to give her my present. Everybody followed me outside and helped her on to the saddle, "Jamie, my present to you is that you can ride him around town by yourself. My dad widened his eyes, but I shot him a look that said trust me. I had my Rapidash by the reins and walked with him, then I let go of the reins after a couple rounds, and then I just walked back to the base and watched her ride with complete composure. After a while she stopped and everyone applauded me.

Soon after, we all decided to go home, Dad was going to stay the night at the base and I understood why, he didn't want to cry at home for it might scare Jamie. I walked next to Keith with a sleeping Jamie in my arms. Once we got home, I tucked her in and was about to leave when I heard her sleepy voice, "Kate, can you sing me a lullaby?"

I went back to her bedside and brushed her hair back, "Jamie, you know I can't do that."

"Please, just once?" Even in her sleep she could still get what she wants.

"Oh alright, Edelweiss, edelweiss; every morning you greet me. Strong and white, clean and bright; bless my homeland forever. Blossom on snow may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever." I hummed the rest of the tune and slipped out of the room. I changed into my pajamas and met Keith in the living room, "She's asleep like a rock."

"I heard faint singing, was that you?" I bit my lip and nodded.

"The hearing aid helps me stay on tune, but I don't do it often."

"Why not," Keith scooted a little closer.

"I just don't want to, I never really liked to nowadays. I have to really work to stay on tune."

"Kate, I want to show you something, come on." I followed him outside.

We sat on the field beneath the stars, Keith pulled out a bracelet. "Here, I tried to press as many images as I could."

The bracelet had images of him and Rythmi showing me around, our capture contest, me riding my Rapidash, him signing with me. It was so beautiful; I put it on and gave him a long embrace. Keith was the most caring friend I have; I looked up and silently thanked my guardian angel for him and for this amazing Christmas.

**A.N. I know, I know it's not December yet, but I something else planned for Christmas. Also, the contest is still going for chapter 3 and there will be a contest in the next chapter! Please comment and review! And before I forget, *drags Spenser into the room* do the disclaimer! **

**Spenser: Ugh, fine! Scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon at all. Sayonara!**


	7. A Thief is Amok

**A Thief is Amok **

Keith's POV

After the festivities of Christmas, Kate and I had to head back. We said our good-byes and flew on Fearow's back. I could tell Kate was sad about leaving, and it didn't help the Jamie had been crying that she was going. I looked over at Kate, "Hey, it's going to be okay. We're graduating in a few months and you'll be able to your family again."

"Don't forget, it's your family too. I still remember your face when Spenser and Dad had that 'talk' with you." I blushed at the memory, apparently when you join the family; the process involves an awkward conversation on your feelings for their daughter/niece.

I felt so awkward around her, I mean, she's my rival and best friend. I can't and won't have a crush on her. I just care for her in a friendly manner, yeah, I just haveto keep telling myself that.

I saw her laugh and it made me feel better that she wasn't so sad. We landed an hour later behind the iron gates and Rythmi tackled poor Kate in a hug. Although, her reaction changed when she saw a new scar, "What in the blue hell did you do, Kate? I thought that when you're with your family, you wouldn't get hurt as often!"

Kate laughed as Ryth pinched the bridge of her nose, "Sorry to disappoint, 'Mother', but your Abraham De Lacy is quite accident prone."

Ryth finally smiled, "You finally got the reference! Yay!"

Kate grabbed her bags and went to unpack which left Ryth with me. She looked at me sternly, "You like her, don't you?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, as a friend."

"You can't lie to me, Conrad. I know you like her; I saw that bracelet you gave her." Ryth crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, I gave her a present, that doesn't prove anything." I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior.

"Whatever," she walked off.

Later that night, as Kate and I were getting ready for bed, I noticed Kate was taking longer than usual. I knocked against the door, "You okay in there?"

I heard her sniffle, "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute."

When she came out, her eyes were red and there were tear stains down her cheeks. I gingerly asked, "Kate, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine, just…female stuff." I didn't buy that lie for a second.

"Kate, you can tell me anything, you know that right?" A few more tears slipped out from her eyes.

Then she signed, _"I know, but right now, I don't want to talk about it. I'll tell soon, though."_

She then buried herself under the covers and went to sleep while I stayed up wondering what could happen to make her feel this way.

The next morning, I was awoken by a crash from downstairs; I quickly got dressed and went downstairs to investigate. I saw a man run out with an arm full of stylers, "HEY, STOP IT RIGHT THERE!"

I chased him outside the building until…

Kate's POV

I woke up the next morning to find Keith gone. I assumed he got ready early for a change, last night was terrible. I came into the dorm room and unpacked when my phone started ringing; it was my doctor. Over the break, I woke up early to visit him about my right ear; progressively I was losing hearing even with the hearing aid and he called to tell me that my eardrum was slowly deteriorating and probably by next year I'll be completely deaf in my right ear. He used the analogy that listening only using my left ear to hear (which I had already lost partial hearing) would be like trying to listen to a whispering conversation through a wall, it would be a miracle if I could hear something. Now I wasn't crying because soon my world would be silent, I was crying because now I couldn't comfort Jamie with a lullaby anymore.

I descended down the staircase and entered into the class. I saw that Keith was missing, but I just guessed the nature called. Rythmi came over and I told her about what my doctor said, but I made her swear to Arceus and all the other legendaries that she won't tell Keith, I didn't want him to worry.

"Kate, you're putting me in a very difficult position!" Rythmi twiddled her fingers.

"I know, and I'm only asking you to do this for a short time. I'll tell him soon, but not yet." I looked around and still no sign of Keith, very peculiar.

Ms. April walked in and started and was going into how an official Ranger Union styler works, especially the voicemail feature. It only had a speaker, which reminded me of my impending doom. Rythmi was going to one side of the room and I to the other when Kincaid burst into the room.

"WHERE'S KEITH CONRAD?!" Boy, talk about your temperamental issues.

Ms. April calmly responded, "He hasn't shown up today, I fear he may be sick."

"Sick my bottom, a bunch of school stylers has just been stolen and he is the culprit!"

Ms. April was about to retort, but I beat her to it, "Keith isn't a thief. He would never do that!"

"You're defending him, so you must be his accomplice!" I was horrified.

Ms. April was beyond mad at this point, "MR. KINCAID, I'll thank you to never talk to any of my students like that again. In fact, we'll all look for Keith, everybody start looking now!"

The room cleared faster than a bunch of Rapidash on racing day. I took the dorms when Ryth voice mailed me, "Kate, come to the courtyard quickly!"

I ran down the stairs and into the courtyard, we found a school styler, we followed the trail until we heard voices, "Hey, gives back our stylers!"

I looked at Rythmi, "That's Keith; I'll go check on him an you go get Ms. April!"

"I'll be back in a jiffy!" She swiftly ran off.

I stepped out to where Keith and this other guy were having a standoff. They were arguing and Keith had him at styler-point.

"HEY!" I barked, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

They both looked at me and then went back to arguing with each other. I'll have to try another tactic, I thought. I squeezed between them and executed a high-pitch pop. They leapt away from each other grasping their ears in pain. Ms. April and Ryth appeared shortly after, and Ms. April looked like she was about to kill someone. I pointed out the thief to her and she gave him the lecture of a lifetime. She unknowingly backed him up against a tree and a Slackoth fell onto his head. He was screaming like a girl that I couldn't hear Keith and Rythmi, who were arguing right beside me. I captured the Slackoth in an attempt to get him to quit his rancid screaming.

Even after I caught the Pokémon, I still couldn't hear right. The hearing aid kept giving off a crackle sound every time someone talked, it was a wonder I could go through Principal Lamont's speech. I only picked up one word, vontanage: it means to shine bright in an impending darkness. I liked the word, especially since I was facing a world of silence in a year or so.

After the speech, Lamont sent us to our dorms, apparently saying that we deserved a good rest. Keith collapsed on his bed while Rythmi and I sat on my bed trying to figure out how to fix my hearing aid.

After a while I got so frustrated, tears were building up in my eyes. I gently placed the hearing aid down and walked to the bathroom and closed the door. I silently let my tears fall, my mind kept repeating like a broken record, poor Jamie, poor Jamie. Ryth came in and held me while a new and terrifying thought came into play.

"Ryth, I can't ne a ranger." My voice was barely above a whisper.

"Kate, now that's not true. You can be a ranger-"I cut her off.

"Ryth, I truly can't! The stylers built for the Area Rangers only have the speaker function! How will I hear orders? Face it, it's not the life I should lead."

"Kate, what the hell is going on?" I saw Keith standing in the doorway.

"Keith…I have something I need to tell you. During the break, I went to my doctor to do another hearing test. Long story short, he found out that my right eardrum is slowly deteriorating and that my world will go silent."

Keith looked like he had been punched, "What about your left ear?"

I solemnly looked up at him, "I have partial hearing loss there too. Face it, in six months to one year, my ranger career is over."

Keith squatted to my level, "Is this what happened yesterday?"

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. Tears were falling freely down my cheeks, Ryth and Keith both held on to me as if they were afraid I'd slip away. I only saw my ranger career being robbed from my grasp.

**A.N. Man, talk about depressing. I was crying as I was typing this, any who, don't forget to leave your reviews of this chapter in the review box. Also, the contest of this chapter is who the thief I portrayed in the title is. Now there are 3 options, but that part you'll have to figure out yourself. Tata readers! **


	8. An Interesting Day in General

**An Interesting Day in General**

Kate's POV

I woke up extremely late the next morning, I rushed to get ready and ran down the staircase when Principal Lamont stopped me, "Kate, could you walk with me for a while."

I nodded and followed, I wasn't sure what to talk about; I mean what can you say to your principal and not worry about offending them. Thankfully, he started the conversation, "Kate, I know about your new medical condition." I looked at him with surprise, "Your father faxed them over. I know you feel like your dream is ending before it starts; but it isn't. I've talked to Prof. Hastings and he agreed that whichever base you get assigned to, all of the stylers there will be updated to the face-time voicemail."

"Sir, he doesn't have to do all of that for me, I'm just another Ranger Student; nothing really all that special." I looked to the surrounding sea as we were now outside.

"Kate, he was ecstatic about doing this. He said that even though he only heard about you, he could tell you have potential and drive. I know we say anybody can be a Ranger, but you are actually heeding that and working even harder than most students to achieve your dream. Kate, it's an honor being able to do this for you, but I won't lie; you have many challenges up ahead. People won't take too kindly to having a deaf ranger, but you have to prove them wrong and never let the negative thoughts burrow in your mind. You must shine with vantonage."

His speech almost made me tear up, he was willing to do anything to make my dream come true, "Thank you so much, Mr. Lamont!" I gave a hug as gratitude.

He laughed, "You're welcome, dear. Now you might want to go to the Library, all your friends are there and you have a study day before you go for internships,"

I rushed off to the library with a smile slapped on my face. I burst into the library and found the group, Keith, Ryth, and Isaac, in one of the back tables.

"Alley Cat, what's with the grin?" Apparently Ryth and Keith got Isaac on the "Alley Cat Bandwagon.'

"Just found out I might not have to give up my dream." I saw everybody's jaw drop.

"Y-you mean that they found a way to stop you from going deaf?" Ryth looked like she was about to faint.

"No, but Principal Lamont said that he might pull some strings with Prof. Hastings and provide the base I'm stationed at with stylers with the face-time function! It may not happen, but it gives me a straw to grasp at." I did my best to keep my excitement to a low whisper.

Keith jumped up and hugged me 'til I couldn't breathe, "Keith, breathing…is…becoming…an issue."

"See, Kate; I told you to not give up your dream, now sit down and study with us!" I looked at Keith weirdly.

"Keith, wanting to study; alright who are you and what have you done with the real Keith?" The group exploded into laughter, and got hushed 2 seconds after.

"Hey guys, let's take this 'study session' outside." We grabbed our books and went to Ascension Square.

Once there, we reviewed proper etiquette for greeting Rangers and Operators since we didn't want to make a fool of ourselves. We also went over the basic functions of the styler and voicemail features when Janice delivered a letter from my Dad, **"Dear Rider, I know I wrote to you about moving; but I can't go through with it because it might make Jamie too distraught to be away from Spenser and the other Rangers. We're going to stay here, but we'll take small vacations to wherever you're stationed at. Also, since I know you had something to do with it; Lunick and Solana finally got together. When I asked Spenser about it, he said it was a part of you plan/threat to Lunick. Although Elita and Spenser aren't together yet, but between you and me, I know he's going to pop the question soon. I saw him at the jewelry store in Fall City so I have a feeling… Also, Jamie sends her love and that she misses you a lot. Love, Dad." **

"Why does your Dad call you 'Rider'?" Ryth looked at the paper then at me.

"It's because of my talent to ride almost any Pokémon, but I always prefer my Rapidash."

After a while, we migrated back inside and got ready for bed; seeing how it was 6 and we were going to have a movie night in Keith and I's room. I put on my black, fuzzy camo pants and an old t-shirt that said, "Windtown Ranger Base." I set up my laptop and waited for everyone else to come in. We watched a couple Disney movies and some comedy features before Ryth and Isaac left. I shut down my laptop and just passed out on the floor; man what an emotional rollercoaster it has been for me!

**A.N. I'm sorry for the short chapter, but it's the best I could do because I wanted to get an update in and for not updating yesterday, but school happened. I'll try my best to update as I can, and I'll definitely update a lot over the weekend. I know the beginning seemed a little rushed, but I believed that Kate needed some happiness in her life. That's I got to say for now. Also, I don't own Pokémon, if I did; I'd make sure there was a TV series about SOA. Adios! **


	9. An Interesting Internship

**An Interesting Internship**

Keith's POV

I woke up a half-hour before my alarm to find Kate still passed out on the floor. I felt sorry for her, in about a year, she'll be completely deaf. I'm not saying that being 100% deaf is a bad thing, but when it comes to being a Ranger; you really need to hear orders and assignments. I took a shower and got dressed before I woke her up.

"Alley Cat, wake up! Come on, Alley Cat." I received a groan and pillow to the face.

That's it, I went into the bathroom and filled a cup full of cold water and dumped it on her.

"GAH! What the hell was that!?" She flipped out, and then glared at me.

"Hey, I tried to wake you up earlier, but you remained asleep." I smirked at her before she smacked my face with a pillow.

She looked over at the clock, "I'll finish you once we leave for wherever we're going."

She went into the bathroom while I went ahead to Ms. April's room. I looked at the board to see our partners and internship places. Naturally, Kate and I were paired up and we're going to Vientown. Hey, that's where Kate's cousin, Crawford, is.

Kate showed up about 5 minutes later with her hair in her usual ponytail. She checked the list and smirked. I knew she was plotting something, and it wasn't going to end well for me.

After Ms. April dismissed us and we helped out Tim, the local milkman (long story that involves Bidoof) we were on our way.

Kate kept running ahead until she tripped on a rock, "Walk much, Alley Cat?"

She growled at me and stood up, "Come on, Keith, we're going to be late."

I sprinted after her until we got to the base, where on the operator's desk there was a parcel and a note that said, "**Bring this to Breeze Hill, don't swing or tip over the parcel as the contents are extremely fragile. The fate of the Vientown ranger rests in your hands. Regards, Barlow."**

Kate grabbed the parcel, "C'mon, Keith! Quit lollygagging and look alive."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I ran after her to make sure she didn't drop the important parcel.

After running through Nabiki Beach, we ran into a man named Mr. Woodward, "Ahh, you two youngsters must be Ranger student"

"Yes sir," Kate answered politely. Huh, I guess even Kate has a civil side.

"Then would you mind answering a couple of questions, it won't take hardly any of your time,"

We looked at each and nodded, "Let's do it!"

"Alright, first off; can you only have one partner Pokémon?" I Answered before Kate opened her mouth.

"No, you can have multiple, as long as you have a place for them to stay," I could feel Kate's glare.

"Excellent, secondly; what is a partner Pokémon?" This time Kate piped up.

"A partner Pokémon is a Pokémon you share an emotional bond with." I looked over to see her smirk at me.

"Well done, you two. I pray you shall be successful in your adventures." We thanked as we ran up the stairs to the top of Breeze Hill.

Kate's POV

When we got to the top, I went slack-jaw. There was a picnic blanket out and who I assumed that worked at the base all sitting around it. Then I hear Keith say the most intelligent thing he's ever said, "Hellomeetcha…"

I stifled a laugh as Keith face-palmed, "Did you just say 'Hellomeetcha'?"

I heard the large, cocoa colored skinned man bellow, "That's Keith for you, and by the way I'm Kate. Nice to meet you," Keith shoved me to which I pushed him back.

"Why don't you two quit the shoving and unload the grub!" I heard Crawford's voice stick out.

"Food, you mean this is-"I lifted up the parcel.

"Lunch? Yes it is. Now unload and eat, I'm starving!" I rolled my eyes at Crawford.

About halfway through the picnic, my hearing aid started acting up so I took it out and transitioned to sign.

"_You okay, Kate,"_ Crawford looked at me concerned.

"_I'm fine, my hearing aid just acted up so I just took it out." _ I waved it off his concern.

"_Want me to tell the others?"_

"_No! I don't want them to worry or know." _Right then, a boy about 17 ran up to us, blabbering hysterically.

"Please help! These Pokémon have surrounded my girlfriend and they're not letting her go!" He was talking so fast I'm amazed that I understood clearly.

"Alright team, let's go, you too, rookies!" We all ran down the steps, me tripping and hearing my bad ankle pop once again.

At the beach there was a teenage girl surrounded by Pokémon, they seemed to be in pain.

"Please don't harm them," Mr. Woodward begged, "They're good Pokémon, but something threw them out of sorts."

"Don't worry, sir, we won't harm them one bit." I assured him.

Everyone else took one Pokémon, so I was left with the Pachirisu. The little devil kept shocking me with its electric attacks until I captured it. Barlow instructed all of us to release them, but Pachirisu wouldn't leave.

"What's wrong, kid? Haven't they taught you how to release a Pokémon?"

I was extremely embarrassed, "I'm trying, but it's not going away!"

Crawford came over, "Chief, looks like Pachirisu wants to be Kate's Partner Pokémon."

"That's a problem." I looked over in confusion, "Kate, you can't have a Partner Pokémon until you graduate and become an official Ranger."

I looked down at Pachirisu, who seemed to understand. She scampered over to Mr. Woodward and her expression seemed to say, "Don't worry, I'll wait"

Barlow told Keith and me to go back to the base while they cleaned up. After he helped me up the stairs, he asked, "Are you okay?"

I waved dismissively, "Yeah, just a little upset about Pachirisu, that's all."

He raised an eyebrow, "Alley Cat, I was asking about your right ankle, you've been walking funny since the capture."

I looked down on it, "Oh, I just tripped on the stairs on Breeze Hill, I'll be fine."

Truth being it felt like a hammer was pounding my ankle, I kept a straight face. I'm a tough girl who only accepts help when she needs it. The rest of the walk was spent in comfortable silence.

After a while, the Ranger Team came back and some goodbyes were said, "I hope y'all guys will get stationed here." Crawford hugged me and gave Keith a "bro-hug". We left after Luana pinched all the fat out of my cheeks, claiming how I was so adorable and innocent.

We caught up with Ryth claiming that our mission was 'top secret' while she complained how the professor kept calling her Misery. When we got to the dorm room, I took off my socks and shoes to see my foot all swollen and puffed like a Politoad.

Keith came in from the bathroom in his pajamas, "What happened to your ankle?"

"I tripped on the stairs." I grimaced as I set my foot down on the pillow.

"It looks like someone took a bat and swung it at your ankle a couple of times!" I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, I feel so much better." I crossed my arms as he came over.

"Kate, can I ask you something?" I got a bad feeling as he sat at the foot of my bed.

"Sure, go for it." I saw him shift uneasily.

"Alley Cat, how did you actually lose your hearing, and don't tell me it was from that old truck, I want the real story."

I bit my lip, "Keith, I trust you, you know that, but I'm just not ready to tell it. It's not you, it's just that…it's a painful story that I don't want to bring up now. But I promise I'll tell you soon."

He looked at me, "It's alright, I'm not mad; just know that you can tell me anything when you want to."

He went over to his bunk and turned off the lights and began snoring while I stayed awake contemplating whether or not to tell him. I wanted him to know, but I didn't want to dig up all the pain and suffering that happened during it. I decided to mull it over in the morning, falling asleep to the throbbing of my ankle.

**A.N. Hey guys! I know I haven't updated n a couple of days, but I decided my game plan for updating; I won't update during the weekdays because I can't handle school, choir, tennis, and this story all at the same time, but I will update over the weekends. Also, that contest I have for chapter I think 6, the contest is still open, but I'm giving a hint; It is a human being within the story. That is all! Don't forget to review, Jamie, sign us off, dearie.**

**Jamie: Scubagirl13 doesn't Pokémon or the characters used in the story! :) **


	10. Graduation and Secrets

**Graduations and Secrets**

Kate's POV

I woke up to the sound of a blow-dryer. I looked into the bathroom and saw Keith in his pajama pants and smirking at me while I brushed my teeth.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I growled my response.

"You know today's graduation right?" I looked at him with surprise and a mouth full of toothpaste foam.

"Lucky for you, I decided to get up early so the blow-dryer would get you up on time." I rolled my eyes.

After that, I shoved him out of the bathroom so I could get a shower. When I got out, I saw that he was dressed in jeans and a dark blue dress shirt with a tie rolled up to his elbows.

I was in dressed in boot cut jeans, a light blue button up shirt rolled up to my elbows, and my hair was in a half up- half down tied off with a thick, blue ribbon. I looked over at him after he tied my ribbon, "Keith… I'm ready to tell you."

He looked at me with confusion, then he recalled, "You sure? You don't have to tell me of you don't want to."

"No, I have to since I might not see you for a couple of years, and besides," I looked over at the clock, "We still have 4 hours until graduation starts."

W both sat on my bed; I drew in a deep breath, "Keith, when I was 7 years old, Dad took me to the doctor for a checkup because my ear was feeling funny. When the doctor examined my ear and took some test, he told my dad that he found something, but he didn't know what and to check with a doctor in Fall City to find out what it was. We went to the Fall City doctor where he told my dad some elaborate disease name and that it was basically a tumor in my inner ear that had to be removed or else it would turn into a brain tumor. We had the operation, but one of the surgeons whacked my eardrum with a scalpel, eliminating 90% of my hearing from my right ear. I had to where a big bulky hearing aid before they gave me a normal hearing aid to help me. About 2 weeks after that, Egg Donor came by and demanded that I was to be turned over to her. Naturally, my father refused and told her to leave immediately. She barged up to my room where I was napping and rudely woke me up with all her shouting. My father came in shortly after and demanded that she left that instant. They argued some more until she shoved me off the bed and demanded me to pack my things. Well, my head and left ear hit the nightstand really hard and I started crying. Since that happened, I couldn't hear them shouting at each other, my father picked me up and forced her out of the house and filed a restraining order against her."

Keith moved over to me and gave me a hug, "Why didn't the doctor give you another hearing aid?"

I looked at him and smiled through my tears, "I only lost 40% in my left ear, so the doc thought that the hearing aid would compensate for that loss. But the tumor's making an appearance again and that'll take the rest of my hearing."

Keith gave me another hug, "I'm so sorry this all happened to you."

"Its fine, Keith, I don't mind going all deaf, there could be worse things that could happen. Plus, that experience made me a whole lot stronger. C'mon, we don't want to be late for graduation, do we?"

We both went to Ryth's room to pick her up, when we found her sobbing.

"What's wrong, Rythmi?" My guard went up by 100%.

"I'm just sad that this may be the last time we see each other again!" At this point, her sobs were even louder than before.

Keith and I both drew her into hug, "Hon, you know we all may not be stationed together, but I'll bet that at least 2 of us will stay together. Plus, we can always write or voicemail each other. This isn't the end of us; this is a whole new beginning, Ryth!"

She dried her tears, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, shall we go; we wouldn't want to be late to our own ceremony now would we?"

We all laughed as we descended down the steps for the last time. The ceremony kicked off without a hitch, although poor Isaac's speech was far too long for everyone's liking. After that, Ms. April announced the class candidate for her own class. I was sure it was going to be Keith or Ryth until I heard, "This year's class candidate is… Kate O'Malley!"

Oh crap, I thought. I didn't even think about planning a speech. I walked up to the stage, only realizing then that Elita, Spenser, Dad, and Jamie were there. I was about to start my speech when all of the sudden, there was an explosion from the basement.

KABOOM! I was thrown of the stage from the sheer force of it, Mr. Kincaid went down to check it out; but came up minute later squalling like a scalded Glameow.

Shortly after he reappeared, two Tangrowth seemed to want to make an exhibition. Keith helped me up and we faced the two Tangrowth while Rythmi called out the attacks they were going to use.

As we captured the Pokémon, I received the bad side of a Vine Whip on my calf. I involuntarily called out in pain, yet kept on fighting. After ten grueling minutes of capture, it was complete. Mr. Lamont congratulated us while everybody cheered.

Then Mr. Lamont gave his speech, "Even though today is the day you set off in this world, I would each of you to take one last assignment from me. Please don't forget to smile. As each year rolls by, I always receive some visits from former students. They say the most wonderful lesson they had was the one I gave to them and the one I'm giving to you. Please don't forget to smile and may your ambition and drive shine as bright as the fabled gems of the past! And now, it is my absolute honor to deem you graduates of the Ranger School!"

At the end, we all hooped and hollered. Ryth, Keith, and I snuck out to Ascension Square. We all took a deep breath and opened our assignment envelopes.

Rythmi gasped, "I got Ringtown Fiore! Now I can watch over Lunick, Solana, and Spenser!" I hugged her hard.

Keith opened his and whooped, "I got Summerland/Windtown!" Sometimes Fiore didn't have enough Rangers for each base so they "share" Rangers between bases.

I opened mine, and with a heavy heart, said, "I got Vientown, Almia."

Rythmi looked like she was about to cry, don't get me wrong, so was I, but I had to stay strong.

"Don't worry about me, guys. I'll be fine, y'all will have each other and we'll voicemail each other as often as we can!" A few tears slipped out of my eyes, but nobody judged me.

We went back inside to grab our luggage that they placed by the entrance. Elita offered to take Keith with her to Windtown while Spenser offered to take Rythmi to Ringtown. We had one last group hug before I saw them disappear into the sky.

Dad and Jamie walked me to Vientown; they wanted to see the base where I was working and to visit Crawford. The walk there was mostly silent except for Jamie's constant chattering. Arceus was she adorable.

When we got to the base, I was tackled with hugs. Luana kept pinching my cheeks and cooing how I was now an adorkable rookie, and then she moved on to my sister, who loved the attention. Crawford tried to give me a formal welcome, but stopped halfway through and started to mess with my ponytail. Barlow gave me my new Ranger uniform, which were 2 sizes too big. Elaine made the necessary alterations while my dad talked to Barlow about any hotels or inns in the area in case he wanted to visit.

After a couple of hours, Dad and Jamie had to get back and I saw Elita outside with her Skarmory. I went outside with them and hugged Elita goodbye.

"_You prove them wrong! Show them a deaf girl can be a Ranger! Be the hero that your heart wants to be .If people shoot you down, just get right back up again. I love you, hon; and I'll always be proud of you." _With her signs embedded in my mind, she took off into atmosphere.

I walked back inside where Barlow gave the formal introductions. I introduced myself and showed them my name-sign (A.N. a name-sign is a sign that usually a deaf person has that describes a certain behavior (like laughing) or an activity they do (like swim, dance, etc.) It is huge for a hearing person to have a name-sign because it shows that they are accepted by deaf culture. Plus, only deaf people can give name-signs after you earn them). My name-sign is a K in the horse-riding sign.

Barlow and Crawford tried to figure out which nickname they should use for me; Rider or Alley Cat. After a heated debate, they decided that my nickname will be Rider. I smiled; I liked that better than Alley Cat because I thought that only Keith and Ryth should call me Alley Cat. Barlow allowed me to go to the room and unpack. Elaine came with me as she was my room mate.

I unpacked my duffel back and placed the scrapbook on the desk and the metal bracelet on my left wrist (I used my right for capturing). Elaine saw the scrapbook, _"Can I see it?"_

"_Sure, what's mine is yours, minus the bracelet. Wait, you know sign?!"_ I was surprised that she Elaine knew sign.

"_Yeah, I know a little; my cousin is hard of hearing so she taught me a little."_ She looked over at the clock, _"Man, I'm bushed; I'm going to hit the hay and so should you."_

I nodded and crawled under the covers as she turned off the lights; maybe this won't be so bad after all.

**A.N. Hey guys! Man, this was a long chapter to type! And just a reminder, I won't be updating until Fri. or the weekends because finals are coming up and I want to focus on that so I can pass. I love y'all and don't forget to review! Keith, take us out!**

**Keith: scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon or the character except for Jamie and the other OCs **


	11. The Marine Cave Mystery

**The Marine Cave Mystery**

Kate's POV

I woke up to Elaine's alarm clock blasting the chorus of, "This is War". I flopped out of bed and into the shower to get ready. I left the room about 20 minutes later to discover that I was actually the only one up, besides Elaine. I found her tinkering with her electric drill, "Morning, Elaine."

"Morning, Rider." She didn't even look up from her drill.

I went into the kitchen to get breakfast and some coffee-cocoa. I made a fresh pot, a common courtesy if you're the first one up, and saw a sign that said, **Luana can't touch this or any other kitchen appliance without proper supervision.** I chuckled slightly as I poured the coffee into my cup which had the hot chocolate mixture.

"Rider, where are you?" I heard Barlow's voice.

"I'm in the kitchen drinking coffee, sir." I saw him walk in the door.

"Ahh okay, just making sure you're awake." I saw him walk over to make a new pot.

"Wait, sir, I already made a new pot just 5 minutes ago." He looked over and smiled.

"Thanks, Rider." He sat down across from me.

"So tell me about your family, I know I met them yesterday, but I want to know more about them." I set down my coffee cup.

"Well, the little girl you saw was my 4 year-old sister Jamie. The older man was obviously my father; he and Uncle Spenser inspired me to become a Ranger. My mom just isn't in the picture, but that's okay, Elita was kind of my motherly/aunty figure." I resumed drinking my coffee mixture.

"Ahh, so what are your hobbies?" I set my cup down again.

"Well, I ride Rapidash professionally, but I can ride just about any other type of Pokémon there is. I can sew decently, and I can fix almost any problem the base may have." I rattled off my few talents before Crawford joined us.

"Mornin' Chief, Rider," He sat next to me, "What's on the agenda today, Chief?"

Barlow looked at him, "I want you and Rider to deliver the newspaper, show her around town and introduce her to people. Make her feel welcome and that this is her home."

Crawford then proceeded to pick me up fireman-style and carry me out of the base.

"Warning, people here may have a small-town mentality and won't take too kindly to a new Ranger, let alone a deaf one."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Bring it on, I had to deal with Kincaid for 5 months."

We stopped by Chicole Village where I saw the house my dad almost bought. Although the family living there were so nice and sweet to us, they were a newly-wed couple with a 2 year-old daughter that reminded me of Jamie. After that, we went back to Vientown and delivered the rest except for 1. We stopped by Mr. Woodward's house, but he was out.

"He's probably at Nabiki Beach on one of his walks, let's go out there." I followed Crawford out of the woodcarver's house.

When we got to Nabiki Beach, a small Pachirisu came up to me and stared circling around me. I couldn't help but giggle and laugh at her actions, then I heard Mr. Woodward chuckle.

"My, my you must be that Ranger lass who came 2 weeks ago." I nodded as Crawford gave him his newspaper.

"Yes sir, I guess she missed me." Mr. Woodward smiled at me.

"Y'know, Rider, since you're a certified Ranger, you can now have a Partner Pokémon."

I looked over at the little gal, "Say, want to be my Partner Pokémon." The little thing jumped up and down.

I thanked Mr. Woodward profusely while Crawford explained how a Partner Pokémon works. I sprinted back to the base, eager to tell the rest about my new achievement.

When I finished telling them about Pachi (the Pachirisu), Luana looked over at Barlow and said, "Chief, she's definitely a keeper."

Barlow rumbles with laughter, "Yes she is, Lulu."

I spent the next hour figuring out what tricks Pachi could do until Barlow called me and Crawford over.

"Afro and Rider, come here." We showed up in front of him in 2 seconds flat. "There have been some complaints about a strange noise in Marine Cave on Nabiki Beach, go check it out."

Crawford whooped, "Man, I've been itching for a mission like this for a while. We'll be right back, Chief."

We ran outside and didn't stop until, "Watch out for that-"I slipped and fell on my back, "Shellos slime."

He helped me up and we jogged to the entrance of Marine Cave. When we got inside, my hearing aid went on the fritz like it did during internships. I waved my hand to get Crawford's attention.

He looked over to see me struggling with my hearing aid, _"What's wrong?"_

I looked back at him after I turned it off, _"My hearing aid was bugging me like it did at internships. I think it might have to do with the noise people are complaining about."_

Right after that, 2 Zubats swarmed me and I executed a damn near perfect capture; but after the capture, they just flew away like nothing happened.

I looked to Crawford for and explanation,_ "Do you know what happened?"_

He looked puzzled, _"No, but captured them right, I saw the whole thing. C'mon, let's go see what's going on."_

We came into some crudely built fences that we just kicked down, and then we saw a red machine that Crawford signed that it was the source of the noise. I saw a spare pipe lying beside it and swung at it like a baseball bat, it made a medium-sized hole that I could see into. I saw a bunch of wires and then something black towards the center. I could tell that it would take a pretty strong water-type to break this machine. Crawford went to go capture a Gastrodon, showing me my record with Shellos slime and a Gastrodon is 10x worse slime-wise and he didn't want me to get injured on my first mission.

I stayed with the machine and saw a note attached at the top, **Gi-mo #45-** The rest was too watered out to read. Soon after, Crawford came back with the Gastrodon, the Pokémon fired at Water Pulse and soon the machine's top exploded off. Crawford and I tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy for the both of us.

"_Don't worry, I'll call Almia's strongest person. Someone who can beat Chief in an arm-wrestling contest in 3 seconds flat," _Crawford smiled mischievously which slightly worried me.

He told me to go back to the base, of which I gladly obliged. On the way to the base I ran into Big Bertha, Little Tim's wife. She said something about Crawford calling and a date, I prayed I read her lips wrong. When I got back to the base, I explained everything to Elaine through sign while she interpreted for Barlow.

About 15 minutes later, Bertha came in and dropped the mystery machine in the center of the base floor. After some interviews about what happened in the cave, Barlow promoted me to Ranger Rank 1. The operator did some updates on my styler and then Barlow gave me permission to either rest or explore the town more. I decided to rest a bit and retired to me and Elita's shared room.

Just when I was about to fall asleep, I got a face time request from Keith on my laptop. I opened and decided to answer.

"Hey, fuzz ball; what's up?" Keith looked slightly offended at his new nickname.

"Fuzz Ball? Where did that come from?" I laughed out loud.

"Well, right now your hair looks like Crawford's afro. And you still didn't answer my question."

"Ugh, fine. Nothing really, just got my new Partner Pokémon yesterday" He lowered the camera so I could see a Buizel on Keith's lap, "Meet Zeal, he's my Partner Pokémon. Be jealous, Alley Cat."

I raised my eyebrow, "Well, Fuzz ball, it just so happens that I have a Partner Pokémon too." I help up Pachi to the camera, "Meet Pachi, she's my absolutely adorable Partner Pokémon."

Keith just scoffed, "Whatever. So what's new in Vientown?"

I sighed, "Same old, same old. Although, Crawford and I found this machine that hypnotizes Pokémon and makes them impossible to capture, it's kind of creepy."

Worry crossed over Keith's face, "That is weird, did you destroy the machine?"

"Yeah, but not completely, I mean it won't hypnotize anymore Pokémon, but it's not blasted to smithereens. I think Barlow wants Prof. Hastings to analyze it."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'I think' were you listening?"

I pulled out my hearing aid, "The machine made my hearing aid go on the fritz, so I couldn't hear the conversation about the machine very well." I put my hearing aid back in.

Keith looked more concerned now, "Does your hearing aid work now?"

I smiled, "Yes dummy, otherwise I wouldn't be in this conversation."

Keith laughed, "True, true. But even so, are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yes, mother; I'm sure I'll be okay." Then I yawned.

"Tired, Alley Cat?" I nodded my head

"Yeah, a little bit, I'm going to take a nap and I'll face time you later."

"Alright, sleep well, Alley Cat."

"Bye, Fuzz Ball," then I closed my eyes and journeyed to Dream Land.

**A.N. So what did y'all think? I tried to type throughout the week, but the evil monster called homework kept me from writing to my beautiful reviewers! I'll try to make the next chapter a little longer, but I can't make any promises. Oh and before I forget, I saw Frozen last week (Insert squealing and fangirling) so I may throw some references into the story, but I'll make sure to not throw in spoilers. Now it's time for (dadadada) The DISCLAIMER! Crawford, take us out! **

**Crawford; scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon or the characters! :) **


	12. The Day Life Flipped Me the Bird

**The Day Life Flipped Me the Bird**

Kate's POV

I awoke to smell of smoke, I got up and swiftly got ready. I walked out to see Barlow and Elaine in panic mode.

"Chief, what's going on?" I was prepared for anything except…

"Rider, the Vien Forest is on fire! Crawford and Luana have already left and so should you. But be careful, don't put yourself in harms way or I will find out." I was already out the door.

I reached the entrance of the forest where I saw Luana was capturing Happiny for a girl in town; I think Mimi was her name. Then I heard a toddler's cry, I sprinted to find the 2 year-old girl from Chicole Village surrounded by flames. Without hesitation, I sprinted into the circle of flames and snatched the young tot. When I jumped through the flames again, I felt a sting on my spot where my neck and left shoulder meet. I didn't look at it as I handed the child to Luana and told her to get the child to the base for a burn inspection.

Then I ran into the middle of the forest. I saw Crawford tending to an injured Budew, then realizing it was his Partner Pokémon. I looked at my right shoulder for the first time that day and saw Pachi on my shoulder with a look of determination.

"Crawford, are there any Pokémon close by that could stop the fire?" At this point, I too was panicking.

"Yeah, there's a Blastoise through that small grove of trees over there." He pointed behind him, "The only reason I couldn't capture him was because my styler went on the fritz."

I ran through that grove of trees and with Pachi's help, we captured the Blastoise. I bolted back to Crawford and asked him about where the Area Move should be done. He said, "Go to the middle of the forest and let it go."

I followed his instructions, when I got the designated spot, I commanded Blastoise to do Rain Dance. A huge shower or rain fell until each little spark was doused out. I released the enormous Pokémon and walked over to Crawford.

"Boy, if I had known it was going to rain, I would've brought an umbrella." I had to laugh, Crawford can make any bad day better with his corny jokes. Luana decided to join us and spotted another one of those mystery machines. We walked over to it when we saw a man who reeked of oil and had horrific burn marks. When he saw us, he decided to make a run for it. Crawford and Luana chased after the guy and ordered me to go back to the base.

If there was a record for the longest 'Come to Arceus' speech, Barlow would take the cake. The second I walked into the base, Barlow started his speech, "Rider what happened to your neck?!"

"I got burned helping a toddler get out of the fire." At the time, I wasn't in the mood for a huge speech on safety.

"Well you shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that. You could've died out there!" I was just about to blow up, but then I remembered to keep a lid on my temper.

"Sir, the toddler was encircled by flames; there was no other way to get her out of there safely without going in there myself. I was not about to just watch her die without at least doing something." My voice took on a steely edge as Elaine treated my burn.

"I'm not saying you should've let her die, I'm just saying don't always go barreling into situations that could get you killed! Rider, I'm saying this because I'm trying to look out for you. Now next time…." I tuned out his voice for the next half-hour, I couldn't keep my temper and listen to him berate me at the same time. After Elaine finished wrapping the gauze, I was released to my room. Once again, I got a face time request from Keith which I accepted.

"Hey Alley Cat, what's u- WHAT IN ARCEUS'S NAME HAPPENED TO YOU!?" It took all the control I had to keep an even tone.

"There was a forest fire this morning and there was a toddler stuck in a circle of fire and I jumped in and saved her."

"Alley Cat-," I cut him off.

"Keith, I'm not in the mood for a safety talk. I just got out of one with Barlow and I'm not positive that I can keep an even temper through another one. I know everyone says that there are other ways, but at that time, there was no other option. I either had to get burned and saved her or watch her die at my hands. I couldn't just do that! I swear when I hear her cry out, I thought it was Jamie. I was about to go mad as a hatter, I saw too much of Jamie in her. I j-just couldn't do it." I looked dejectedly from the screen.

"Kate, look at me." I slowly looked at the screen, "Kate, I know you couldn't let her die and I would've done the same thing in your shoes, but I'm just worried for your safety. I mean, I'm way over in Summerland and the only way I hear about this is when you face time me. If you didn't, how could I know what happened to you."

"Keith, if you're supposed to be making me feel better, you're totally sucking at it." He chuckled a bit.

"Alley Cat, just remember that everyone there and here want you to be safe. Trust me, if you died, Ryth would pull some witchcraft/voodoo shit and bring you back to life and proceed to beat the crap out of you." I laughed out loud, and then winced because of my charred shoulder.

"Hey, Alley Cat. I have to go; Cameron wants me to check out something in the jungle. I'll face time you later." I just nodded and closed my laptop.

I fell asleep for a few hours, and then awoke to the sound of Crawford coming into the room.

"Hey," I croaked, "What's up?" He looked like he had been crying for a while.

He sat at my bedside and grabbed my hand, "Rider… what I'm about to tell you is going to make you angry and sad and a whole bunch of other emotions and that's okay."

At this point, I was freaking out; worse case scenarios were racing through my head. I was clutching at the sheets and sweat was beading at the back of my neck. I was frightened out of my wits!

"Kate, your dad is in the hospital. Apparently he was attacked by some men clad in black. I'm so sorry, Kate." Tears were streaming down both of our faces.

"Wh-when did you get the call?" I closed my eyes in an attempt to block out the pain.

"I got it just a few minutes ago. So far, your dad is in critical condition; but he may pull through." I was trying to bite back a sob.

"How's Jamie doing?" I was worried sick about my baby sister.

"Jamie doesn't know yet. All she knows is that Dad is visiting the doctor for a while." The sob I was biting back released itself.

"When will he be discharged?" A small smile graced his lips.

"In 2 weeks at least, I would tell you to not worry about it, but I already know you are." He kissed my forehead and left the room.

A few minutes later, Barlow came into the room. He pulled up a chair next to my bed, "Rider," he talked gingerly as if I were to explode any second, "I know it wasn't easy to listen to my spiel. Hell, I probably would've blown up if I were you. But you see, I got the call about your father that morning; that's why I was so hard on you about safety."

"I know, Chief. But I didn't know what else to do, what do you do in those situations?" I looked expectantly at Barlow.

"Honestly, Rider, you did what you had to do in that situation. Just don't make a habit of giving me a heart attack every day." I chuckled slightly.

"I'll go ahead and let you rest. Will you feel ready to go out on a few patrols tomorrow?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Chief, I could go out on patrols now if you wanted me to!" Barlow laughed out loud.

"No way, Rider; you just got charbroiled and you need to rest so the medicine can work its magic." I groaned and fell dramatically on the pillow.

Barlow chuckled as he left the room. I carefully reached out to my nightstand and grabbed my scrapbook. I flipped through the pages until I head Elaine come in, "Hey Hon, how are you doing?"

I set the book down on my lap, "I'll be okay. Quick question; why was I placed on bed rest?"

"It's because that joint the burn was could fester and get worse with movement. If the burn was just on your neck or shoulder, then you could move around and patrol." She explained as she sat on my bed.

"What's this?" She picked up the bracelet that Keith gave me for Christmas.

"Keith gave me that for Christmas." I felt my cheeks heat up a lot for some reason.

"That's sweet of him." I saw her smirk with mischief.

After a moment of awkward silence, she finally spoke, "Tell you what, I'm going to go eat and I'll bring back something in a bit."

She left and closed the door while I looked at the bracelet Keith gave me. I recalled all the memories that happened that I didn't hear the door open and close. I heard Crawford's voice arguing with someone as I fell asleep on the bed.

**A.N. Hey guys. What did y'all think? Please review or PM me with your ideas; remember I'm open to suggestions. Also, send me some contest ides because my ideas are running thin. I love all y'all that read my story, but please REVIEW! I want to know if I'm doing an okay job or not. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon (goes over to the corner to cry) **


	13. The Pueltown Mailboxes

**The Pueltown Mailboxes?**

Kate's POV

A few days after the fire, Barlow ordered me to go out on patrol to make sure the people still weren't shaken up about the fire. I ran out of the building faster than a Zapdos, I didn't want to be stuck with holding back Elaine from dismantling the machine, again.

After a few rounds, I reported back to Barlow and basically told him that nothing was new. I looked over to the side of the base and saw the man that Luana and Crawford were chasing after the fire. I went over to Elaine, "Who's the guy in the rope?"

Elaine's voice took on a steely edge, "Barlow believes that this guy caused the fire and until he talks, he stays tied up."

I felt rather uncomfortable about the situation, one part of me agreed that he should be kept on base, but the other part said that it was totally inhumane to keep him tied up. I saw Elaine's grim expression.

"Its times like this that I question what this base stands for." With that, she left the main room. I was beginning to think that Elaine cared more for this man than she was letting on.

I looked at Pachi who was on my shoulder; I could see in her eyes that she was feeling the tension in the room. I smiled at her and walked out of the base to escape the suffocating tension. I walked around outside and headed towards the Vien Forest. I saw all the burn marks and scorches on the grass and trees. It would take all the magic of Celebi to return this forest to its former glory.

I kept walking around until I got a voicemail from Barlow telling me to report to the base ASAP. I sprinted into the base, "What do you need, Chief?"

"I need to go to the Vien Forest and pick up Prof. Hastings. He said he'd be here, but I just want to make sure he's safe." I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"I know you were there, but I hate giving out missions by voicemail." I chuckled a bit.

"Roger that, I'll be back in a jiffy," I skipped out of the base and to the entrance of the forest.

Just when I was about to go inside, I saw an old man in a lab coat. Then it hit me, this man was Prof. Hastings. I recognized him from the times that he would come to Ringtown when Spenser would watch me while Dad would be out on business.

Apparently he recognized me too, "My oh my, is that little Kate I see?"

I giggled a little, "In the flesh, it's good to see you, sir."

He looked at my Ranger uniform, "Wow, it seems like just yesterday you were 8 years-old running into the base grinning from ear to ear with weed in your hair and dirt on your jeans from being thrown from your Ponyta at the time."

I blushed at the memory; Spenser was so embarrassed of me because the first thing I did hug the professor and get dirt and grass stains on his brand new lab coat.

"Shall we head to the base, sir?" I politely extended my arm to him.

He chuckled, "I need not your arm, dear. Just earlier I broke a few barricades that were blocking the path. Come, now, we shall have a brisk walk to the base."

I shrugged and jogged to keep up with him, man this guy was fast for his age. When we got to the base, Barlow explained to him about the machine and what it did to the Pokémon in the cave. My blood boiled a bit as they paid no heed to the man tied up in the corner.

I looked over at Elaine who was loosening the ropes a bit, I smiled at her. At least someone was kind enough to do something for him. I heard the professor say something about mailboxes in Pueltown, so I started to pay attention again.

"Wait, so there are more of these things being set up in Pueltown?!" I could practically feel the rage coming off of Barlow.

"Rider, Luana go destroy these so called 'mailboxes' in Pueltown!"

"Roger!" Luana and I both sprinted towards the forest and jogged the rest when we got tired.

We came to a stop at a cliff, "This is called Lookout Ridge. It's the best sight-seeing place in all of Almia. It's also the best place if you need to yell." I nodded, understanding what Luana said. Then she actually yelled, "TALK OLLIE!"

I grasped my hearing aid in pain and tried in vain to turn it off. Luana looked over at me, and then flushed a bright red, "Sorry about that, I just needed to get that off of my chest."

"Apparently, so tell me; why are we keeping him tied up? Maybe he has family or someone he's close with." I looked over at her to see her expression change into a sad one.

"Trust me; no one at the base likes his punishment. But we need to keep an eye on him until he talks. Don't worry, I have a plan that's going to make him talk and grant him his freedom." I saw her go back to her bubbly old self again.

We walked for about 10 more minutes when that sound that came from the Marine Cave happened again. This time, it actually shorted out my hearing aid battery! I told Luana my plight, hoping that I wasn't shouting. I tried to read her lips, but she was talking too fast. I could read the words: calm, don't panic, and okay. From her hand motions, I could tell that she wanted to divide the city into 2 and destroy the machines.

Before we divided up, we saw some men in black clothing like the one's Crawford described that jumped my dad. Luana listened and from her lips, I could tell that she figured out the name of the machine. She grabbed my arm and spelled the name of the machine across my forearm. The dreadful machines were called Gigaremos? It's kind of a funny name if you ask me, but it's not my position to judge the name.

Luana motioned that it was time to split up. I took the right half and she took the left. There were a lot of blue Gigaremos and they were easy to destroy with Pachi's Thunderbolt. They had the same black stone on the interior, but the wiring on this one wasn't covered in electrical tape, meaning a spark could get in there and destroy the whole thing.

After destroying my half of the Gigaremos, meeting an interesting character named Brooker, and saving said character and Isaac's sister Melody (she was so adorable, reminded me of Jamie), I met Luana back at the docks where we saw some of those costumed dorks loading a yellow Gigaremo onto a boat. Luana and I both agreed to confront them, although she would do all the talking.

I wish I could hear what she was saying, because it was obviously shocking those jerks. One of the dumbos in charge sent a pack of Rattata at Luana, of which I intervened and captured them with ease. I only got a few scratches on my calves from the little devils when I saw a Toxicroak cornering Luana. I saw fear in her eyes and that made my blood boil in my veins.

I jumped in front of her and engaged the little bugger in a capture. Right near the end of the capture, the Pokémon sent a Poison Jab to my side. I groaned in pain, but finished the capture valiantly. After the capture, the cowards loaded up on the boat with the Gigaremo and sped off toward the horizon. Brooker jumped in and attempted to swim after them, but came back a few minutes later in defeat.

We were about to run to the base when I almost fell down from the Poison Jab. Thankfully, Luana had a spare Pecha Berry on her. I cut the berry in half and put some of the juice on the area of injury and then ate the other half. As you can probably tell, this wasn't my first rodeo with poison-type injuries.

Luana and I walked back to the base where she reported about the mission. I guess Barlow gave me another Rank Up because the operator took my styler to give it some updates. I gave myself a headache trying to read everybody's lips.

Finally I got fed up with it, I signed to Crawford, _"Can you ask Chief if I can go to bed. I don't feel well."_

He nodded and asked Chief who gave his approval. I calmly walked to my room and turned on my laptop. I e-mailed Ryth about current events, in Ringtown; they don't have the face time voicemail feature on their stylers. After that, I got a face time request from Keith. I opened it to see him smiling that stupid grin of his with Zeal on his lap. He said something that I couldn't understand since he was talking too fast and looking away from the screen.

"_Keith, I can't hear you. Apparently some more of those machines showed up in Pueltown and Luana and I had to go destroy them. The noise they gave off shorted my hearing aid out."_ His eyes filled with worry and anger.

"_Do you know who's setting them up?"_

"_Yeah, a bunch of guys clad in black clothing with some wacky purple design on the front, the same clothing description of the guys who jumped my dad a couple days ago."_ My expression morphed into anger as I relayed the day's events.

"_I heard about your dad from Elita. I'm so sorry that happened. I wished I had been there to stop it."_

"_No, Keith. If you were there, then you might've gotten hurt as well and I had a hard time dealing with my dad in the hospital. I couldn't possibly be able to deal with both of you in the hospital."_

I saw him smile at me which set off a weird feeling in my stomach,_ "How's life over in Vientown?"_

"_Pretty good besides the fire and the Gigaremos in Pueltown,"_ I saw him look over at a clock.

"_Hey, Alley Cat. I'll have to talk to you tomorrow. Elita wants me to help Silent Chris put Jamie to sleep."_ I smiled kindly at him.

"_Okie dokie, I'll see you tomorrow Fuzz Ball." _With that, I closed my laptop and fell on to the bed.

I wrestled with my thoughts. What if Barlow decides I'm not fit to be Ranger and discharges me? Then what would I possibly say to Jamie or Keith in that matter?! Tears began to fall as every little negative thing people have said about my deafness replayed through my mind like a record. I finally gave up and fell asleep to the constant beat of my disappointed heart.

**A.N. Hey guys, its CHRISTMAS BREAK! NO MORE FINALS and you know what that means MORE UPDATES! Sorry about my hyperness, but I had coffee while writing this chapter and the caffeine is kicking in. Anywho, I have a special surprise for Christmas and y'all will love it. And just in case anybody was wondering, I'm not deaf, but I'm hard of hearing. Although a lot of my friends are deaf. Anyhow DISCLAIMER! I don't own Pokémon or any of the charactrs beside my OCs**


	14. Some Pokemon Just Love to Hate Me

**Some Pokémon Just Love to Hate Me**

Kate's POV

The next day, I woke up to Big Bertha yelling about something. It must have been loud because I could faintly hear it even without my hearing aid. I quickly got dressed and replaced the battery as I walked into the main room.

"YOU CAN'T JUST 'STICK A SPOON IN HIS MOUTH' WITH MILK PUDDING!" I raised my eyebrows and looked to Crawford.

"_Big Bertha dropped off some milk pudding and Chief said to only give Ollie a spoonful."_ I smiled, so that was Luana's plan.

"_Do we get some milk pudding?"_ Crawford smiled and handed a cup filled with pudding.

I watched as Big Bertha spoon fed Ollie until his share was all gone. I saw tears well up in his eyes as he exclaimed, "I don't deserve this!"

Luana looked from her pudding, "He talks? Yay!"

We all looked back at Ollie, "I don't deserve this because I started the fire. A friend of mine wanted me to put some of those machines around the forest when I spilled some oil and a spark flew. The next thing I know, the whole forest is up in flames."

Barlow walked up to him, "This friend you say was he wearing a black uniform with a purple design on the front."

Ollie nodded, "Yeah, although I don't know why. He said it was an easy way for me to make some cash so I took the opportunity. Honestly didn't know what those machines were supposed to do until Luana reported about what happened in Pueltown."

We all looked expectantly at Chief, "Rider, go over there and untie the ropes."

I tried for about a minute before I gave up and whipped out my new pocket knife and slashed the ropes. Elaine tended to his rope burns with a hint of blush on her face. Ah so the Tin Woman does have a heart.

I walked outside when Ollie rushed out and asked me to take him to a "friend's" house. I was about to accept before I thought of something else. I told him, "I'm sorry, I don't know the town very well, but Elaine could probably take you."

Some color rose to his cheeks as he ran back inside to ask Elaine. A few minutes later, Barlow came and told me that he and Prof. Hastings were going to the union for a conference. I nodded and wished them safe travels as I patrolled Vientown. It seemed like just yesterday I had come here with Keith for internships. I smiled wistfully at the memory.

I walked down to Nabiki Beach and onto Breeze Hill with Pachi on my shoulder. I stood at the top of the hill and recalled all of my Ranger School memories. I remembered when Ryth took me on the tour, when Keith and I did the Test of Bravery, when all four of us had a Disney movie night, and then when I told Keith and Ryth about my ear tumor. I looked down at the digital calendar on my styler and saw that I only had at least 4 or 5 months before I lose my hearing.

I smiled a little, I wasn't sad about it anymore. It was just a new challenge I had to overcome, nothing special. Plus, I could talk to a couple of doctors at the Union and see what they can do. Maybe they can install a super-cool cybertronic hearing thingamabob.

I walked back to the base seeing how it was dinner time and Crawford was making gumbo. I walked into the ranger building to hear Crawford singing Jimmy Buffet's "I Will Play for Gumbo." I had to laugh at the image of Crawford singing into a wooden spoon and dancing around.

After dinner, which included a spit take, a food fight, and some corny as hell jokes, I retired to my room. I checked my laptop and saw I got a letter from Ryth, **"Alley Cat, Thanks for filling me on what's happening. I know I haven't been communicating with you and Keith lately, but things have been so busy here in Fall City. That's right, I got transferred from Ringtown to Fall City and Joel has been keeping me on my toes. Did you hear about Keith? He stopped this team called Dim Sun, I'm pretty sure their leader was hungry, but he stopped a boss or higher-up from taking over the Fiore Temple. This chick I swear, her face was covered in make-up, like you couldn't even see her actual face! Anyway, he captured her Infernape (poor thing) and got some pretty bad burns on his arms, but he'll recover soon. I hope to hear from you soon. Love, Ryth."**

I was so mad that Keith didn't tell me about this, but then I realized f he got burnt on his arms, then he couldn't do anything with them. With that logic, I had calmed down some, but I was still mad at him somewhat. Crawford came into my room, "Hey, Rider. I need to go to Pueltown early tomorrow. Chief and the professor are stuck there because of a drawbridge malfunction. They said it wasn't too serious, but to just stop by tomorrow."

I looked over at him, "So you want me to be there before Arceus wakes up?"

He chuckled, "Pretty much, I'll wake you up at 5 a.m." I shuddered

"5 a.m. is there even such a time?!" I saw him laugh.

"Yes, now go to sleep so that way you'll be up and ready to go." I grumbled as he left and sent Ryth back a speedy reply updating her on what's going on. Then I fell asleep on the ever so soft tile floor.

I woke up the next morning to Crawford poking me with a stick. I growled, but gave in and woke up. I was dressed and ready by 5:10 and out the door by 5:20.

I grumbled as I walked towards Pueltown and made it there within half an hour. I met up with Barlow in front of the Ranger Depot.

"Morning, Rider." I growled a good morning. Hey, it's not even 6 a.m. yet, can you blame me?

Barlow led me to the Pueltown where I saw Brooker twiddling his fingers. I did an internal sigh; this usually meant that something did not go according to plan.

"Brooker, fill in Rider on the situation." Barlow's voice took on a serious tone, one that I never saw often.

"Well, Rider, remember when I went swimming after those Dim Sun goons?" I nodded my head. I guess the grunts told Luana their team name while she was confronting them, "Apparently the key to the drawbridge fell out of my pocket and fell somewhere in the Puel Sea."

It took all the will power I had to not strangle him. I looked over at Chief, "We need you to go down there and bring back the key. I would go down myself, but I have my uh, reasons."

I rolled my eyes as I took Pachi off my shoulder and took out my hearing aid. From past experiences, I learned that hearing ads and water don't mix. Chief gave a fancy little regulator who's name I'd have to learn later. I followed Brooker onto his boat, at least he had something useful to offer, and rode off to the sea.

About 5 minutes later the boat stopped, I hopped out of the boat where I saw the key. I thought it was going to be an easy mission until a #?*! &% Sharpedo decided that a metallic key would make an excellent breakfast. I groaned as I voice mailed Barlow and signed to him about the mix-up.

"_Alright, Rider, I'm upgrading this to a full-scale mission. Get that key back from the Sharpedo!" _I nodded as I exited the function and chased after the Pokémon.

After an incident with a Staryu, being forced into a coral reef by a current, and riding on multiple Mantines, I was in a maze of sea rock. My styler radar picked up the shark Pokémon; I saw that there were currents I could ride to hopefully catch up to the Pokémon. After about 3 rounds in the maze, I finally captured the Pokémon. I saw that he Sharpedo looked sick and I opened its jaw to find the needed key lodged in between two of his back teeth. All I could think about were the safety hazards that could happen as I pulled the key out gently. I felt a sharp sting on the back of my hand, but thought nothing of it

A few minutes later, I was back at the dock and it was there that I noticed a long scratch on the back of my hand. Of course, the blood probably made it look worse than it actually was, but it still freaked me out a bit.

"Good job, Rider! That was amazing how you just took to water like a Golduck. Mission Clear!" I smiled as Pachi hopped back on my shoulder and proceeded to take a nap there.

We walked back to the drawbridge where Prof. Hastings was impatiently waiting, per usual. Brooker soon lowered the drawbridge where we met up with one of the Union's workers.

"Welcome back, Professor. I was getting worried about you when you didn't show up because you're always so impatient. Wait-no I didn't mean it like that, I just…" The professor and Chief just walked right past him.

I chuckled a little bit, "You'll have to excuse the professor, he has a bad habit of doing that."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "No kidding, oh my where are my manners? I'm Murph; I'm the Private Researcher of PR at the Union." He stuck out his hand for a shake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kate O'Malley. I'm an Area Ranger in Vientown." I stuck out my left hand, I know it's not proper, but my right hand was kind of bloody at the moment.

"Sorry, I would shake, but I cut my hand on a Sharpedo tooth and it's a little bloody" I lifted up my hand for visual support.

"Oh, my! Here, let's go to Altru Inc. and see if they have any bandages." I looked at him quizzically.

"What's Altru Inc.?" He looked at me with surprise.

"They're the main energy company here in Almia. How did you not hear about them?" I held my bloody hand.

"I just moved here a couple months ago and nobody's ever told me about them." Then I saw a familiar mushroom haircut on a blonde researcher, could it be-?

"Kate? Is that you? Remember me, I'm Isaac from the Ranger School?" I laughed out loud.

"Of course I remember you Isaac! I would hug you but..." I held up my right hand.

Isaac took my hand carefully and examined it, "Oh dear, let's go to Altru Inc. and fix you up there."

Then I realized that Murph was there too, "Murph, this is my friend Isaac. Isaac, this is Murph, he works at the Ranger Union." They rumbled hellos to each other as we walked.

Once inside the building, Isaac went straight for the first aid kit while I looked around and Murph went to go talk to some receptionist lady. The entire first floor was like a museum, all these artifacts from when the company started. I guess they were an oil business and I've had my fair share of oil companies. A couple years ago some oil executives came by and talked to my dad about selling his land t them because there was suspected to be oil under the land. My dad politely declined and told them he didn't want to sell the land because then where could I and Jamie play? I guess the executives had kids of their own and never bothered us again.

Isaac came back a few minutes later with the kit, "This might sting a little bit."

I slapped my spare hand over my mouth to keep me from swearing. Hey, the hydrogen peroxide hurt more than getting the injury. After a couple minutes, he finished wrapping up my hand and I guess somebody important came in because everybody stopped what they were doing and stood up.

The main guy was dressed in almost all black, including sunglasses and his sidekick looked like a migitized Joker minus the makeup. He was giving some speech that I didn't pay attention to until he ended and people started calling him Mr. President. He came over to Isaac and me, "Prof. Isaac, how is your research work coming along?"

I saw him straighten up, "It's coming along now, sir. I believe I'm really close to a breakthrough."

He smiled a little too creepy for my taste and congratulated him. Then he turned his attention to me, "And who are you, young lady?"

"I'm Kate O'Malley, a Ranger from Vientown. Isaac was helping me bandage myself after I got bit by a Pokémon on accident." I so wanted to smack that creepy smile off his face, seriously picture every Disney villain smile when their plan comes together and that's his smile. I half-way expected him to burst into song and tell everyone of his grandiose plan.

Thankfully he went up the elevator after that, I believe he something about working and Pokémon but I couldn't give a Seedot about what he thinks or says. I smacked Isaac in the shoulder really hard.

"OW, Kate what was that for?" I rose my eyebrows.

"You didn't tell me you were a researcher! At age 16, what the hell man?" He blushed a little.

"Yeah, sorry about not telling you, I just didn't think you would have the time to actually see me." I smacked him n the back of the head.

"Isaac, you know that I would make time for you and all my friends. Now the important question is; have you told Rythmi?" This time his face got really red.

"N-no n-not yet," I smiled deviously at him.

"I suggest that you tell her soon or somebody might just spill to her about something important." His jaw dropped down to the floor.

"You wouldn't- ." I cut him off.

"I so would, now if you'll excuse me, Murph and I have to go. Bye, Isaac!" He waved back and shook his head in the 'I can't believe I'm friends with her' way.

Murph and I were planning on walking slowly to the Union when I saw an all too familiar face running towards us.

**A.N. Ahh I just love cliff-hangers. Don't worry, I'll update soon so don't go blowing up my inbox trying to get spoilers. Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter; it really encourages me that I'm doing a good job. Also, I've decided to stop the contests because my ideas are out for them. Anyway, Ryth take us out!**

**Ryth: scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon, any of its characters, or the song that is mentioned.**


	15. A Presentation and an Earthquake

**A Presentation and an Earthquake**

Kate's POV

I saw Barlow (A.N. PSYCH!) running towards Murph and me, "Rider, we need you for the presentation."

"Why couldn't you just voicemail me about it?" He looked at me as if the answer was completely obvious.

"I need to go into town and pick up some sodas. Prof. Hastings requested the glass-bottle kind. Apparently to him they taste better than soda in a can." I just rolled my eyes; of course he would do this.

"Alright, I'll meet you back at the Union." I followed Murph on the appropriately named Union Road.

About 10 minutes later, I was taking my first steps into the Union. The sheer look of it all was almost too much for me. I mean, I've had dreams about coming to this place and those dreams didn't hold a candle to the real deal. I looked over at Murph, "Now that I'm at my job, I'm in serious work-mode now. The conference room is the 2nd door to your left on the 2nd floor."

I sprinted up the escalator and attempted to catch my breath as I calmly walked into the conference room. I saw they had a blue Gigaremo (**A.N. I know the Gigaremo is supposed to be red, I just didn't feel like typing out the Bibarel capture scene**) set up in the middle of the room with a bunch of professional-looking people. Never had I felt so out of place in all my life. A few minutes later Barlow came in with the sodas and the presentation began.

"Alright people, there is a new criminal syndicate called Team Dim Sun." I did my best to not snicker at the name. "They are after complete control of Pokémon for whatever their diabolic means they mean to carry out."

I have never seen the professor look so serious before, "This machine," he tapped the Gigaremo with his cane, "Is called a Gigaremo. It hypnotizes Pokémon and allows them to be taken over easily. However, as Kate will demonstrate, these machines do have a weakness that we Rangers can exploit."

I nodded my head to Pachirisu and she flew a Spark into the crack of the machine and 10 seconds later, the Gigaremo exploded. Some people applauded me while others looked intently on the machine.

"Now if you'll look on the floorboard monitor, you'll see why this Gigaremo never hypnotize any of the Pokémon in this building." The floor monitor lit u and made me jump almost 10 feet in the air. There was a black, diamond-cut stone with a bunch of gibberish measurements surrounding it.

"This black stone serves as the power core to the Gigaremo. Right now, we need to be extra vigilant on this new criminal syndicate. Be aware that these machines could be anywhere, so could these Team Dim Sun grunts so be careful." I then saw an older woman take the floor.

"Please don't be alarmed, we'll stop this Dim Sun before it's too late." Her smile was so reassuring, I almost believed her.

Before I left the conference room, I was stopped by Top Ranger Wendy. I admit, I was trying to keep my inner fan girl under control. Don't stare at me like that, I can smell your staringness!

"Hey Rider, could you answer a couple questions for me?" I nodded, I didn't want to talk for in fear that I would squeal like a Tepig.

She brushed back some hair from her face, "Okay, is it true that Team Dim Sun fled from Pueltown on a boat."

"Yes, I believe it was a Sharpedo 4500 model D-34." She looked impressed with me.

"Excellent memory there, Rider; next question: did they carry off a different color Gigaremo?" She raised an eyebrow as if she were challenging me.

"Yes, it was a yellow Gigaremo. This Gigaremo was also larger in size, but made out of plastic so it appears to be easily crushable." She beamed at me, then it hit me; how did she know about my nickname.

"Excuse me, but how did you know about my nickname?" She laughed out loud.

"You learn things from the Union. Also, when Barlow first introduced you, he called you Rider instead of Kate." I laughed because I could just see that situation in my head.

Then she pointed to my hand, "What the hell happened to your hand?'

"This is what happened when you have to dig a key out of a Sharpedo's mouth." She laughed out loud.

"I don't even want to know how that took place." I smiled and laughed along with her.

After about 5 minutes, Barlow came over and pulled me away from my fan-girling moment. He told me that we had to get back to town early tomorrow morning and I proceeded to groan. That's two mornings this week where I had to wake up early and I was not a happy camper.

The next morning, I woke up to a bucket of ice water being unceremoniously dumped on my head. I sputtered the water out of my mouth and proceeded to spill curses blindly.

"Chief, pardon my language but, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He just rumbled with laughter.

"You did wake up when I threw you off the bed, so this was my next best option." And it was then that I realized that my ever so comfy bed was replaced with cold-as-a-Glaceon's-ass tile flooring.

We quickly got ready and were on our way by 7:30 in the morning. Ugh, even in Vientown I don't wake up until 8 a.m. Anywho, we were descending down the staircase when there was a massive earthquake. We looked at each other and an unspoken thought ran through our head, we need to finds what's up with that earthquake.

We sprinted through Union Road until we got to Peril Cliffs where the earthquakes were even stronger here than at the Union. We ran to the cliffs when my hearing aid went out again. That same piercing sound rang through my ears as the magical device that let me hear gave out. I got his attention and told, well sign, to him about the whole can't-hear-crap issue. We scaled the cliffs and saw that there were 4 of those yellow Gigaremos in place. Chief and I split up and set out to destroy the Gigaremos.

For my two, I didn't even need a PokeAssit, I just grabbed a spare pipe (seriously, they need to stop leaving their spare parts where I could reach them) and made like a baseball and hit a home run. After I decimated mine, I met Barlow at a little ledge overlooking a hole or something being formed by 2 Rampardos that were being controlled by a Dim Sun dork on a computer thingy. At that moment, I just wanted to run down there and bash that little geek's head in, but Chief grabbed my arm before I had the chance.

"_Listen Rider, I know you're really upset about Dim Sun putting your dad in the hospital, but you need to stay calm. This guy could be an important asset in getting more information."_ I reluctantly nodded my head and allowed him to do all the talking.

We carefully climbed down and Barlow confronted the guy. I couldn't talk for 2 reasons; 1. Barlow wouldn't let me and 2. I can't her anything below a shout! Apparently this guy decided it would be a smart idea to pick on the girl who's silent and deadly with an equally dangerous guy with me. I figured this out because I look over at Barlow and I see him seething with rage. I honestly thought for a moment that this guy was going to kill the Dim Sun idiot.

A few minutes later, I was face to face with a pissed of Rampardos. I looked frantically over at Barlow who just nodded and started his capture which gave me the cue to start mine. I ran out the Pokémon's way so that I wouldn't get hit by his rock avalanche. After a few more dodges, I went offensive. I charged toward the Rampardos and encircled him in my capture line. I forgot that the Pokémon was still enraged as I captured it and I got slammed into the rock wall by its Head-butt. I groaned and tried to focus as my vision kept getting fuzzy. Eventually, I captured the not-so-little demon and I saw the computer thingy blow-up in the guy's face! That got me thinking until I started losing balance, then I realized that I probably hit my head really hard on the wall.

Barlow helped down the cliffs and declared, "Mission Clear, Rider! I'm promoting you to Ranger Rank 3 for your bravery and even temper during the strenuous mission."

I weakly smiled and nodded, "Thanks, Chief. Are we going to walk home?"

He chortled, "Nah, how about we ride a Doduo home?"

I eagerly nodded, "Sounds like a great idea."

He gave a couple pointers on how to keep them under control and how to steer them, then we were off! In about 10 minutes, we were back at the base. I excused myself to the back to replace the batteries. I wondered why they kept shorting out every time I'm near a Gigaremo. I decided that I would talk it over with Keith later after I patrolled.

I walked back into the main room where I saw Barlow talking to the rest of the team.

"Hey there, Rider, I was telling the team that I'm going to Boyleland because of some reports about missing Pokémon. Also, Crawford will be in charge. Everybody can go to bed now, except for Crawford because I need to talk to him." Barlow dismissed everybody and I walked back to Elaine and I's room.

I got on my laptop and started a chat with Keith since Elaine was in the room and I didn't want to be rude. (**A.N. Kate will be in a Bold and Keith will be underlined**)

"**Hey, Keith I wanted to talk to you about something."** I prayed to Arceus that he was online.

"Sure, what's up?" I drew a deep breath as I tried to rack my brain as a way to explain this.

"**Okay, so whenever I get close to a Gigaremo, my hearing aid dies out completely. Why do you think that is?"** I hoped that he had a somewhat sensible explanation.

"Well, the signals that the Gigaremo gives off messes with your hearing aid or something." I smiled, I guess that makes sense.'

"**Thanks, by the way. Why didn't you tell me about you battle with Cake Face (Lavana)?" **I could just see him squirming in his seat as he tried to come up with an excuse.

"Well…umm… you see, I didn't want you to worry about me when you're over there in Almia." It was safe to say I was beyond upset.

"**Keith. You get on my case when I don't tell you stuff but then you pull the same move to me. Not fair, dude."** I was so pissed at him; he had the gall to say that!

"Kate, it's not like that. I didn't want you to worry about me while your dad is in the hospital. I know you're going to say it was stupid of me to do that, but I don't want you to become a ball of nerves." I was slightly less upset about his excuse, but still miffed nonetheless.

"**I'm still miffed, you know. For future reference, ALWAYS tell me when you're in trouble so that way I know you'll be okay. Thanks for talking to me, I got to go. 'Night."** I closed my laptop and plugged in the charger. I spent the night dreaming of all the memories Keith and I shared.

**A.N. Howdy y'all! Man I'm so excited for Christmas and the holidays! So, back to business, I know it may seem like I'm rushing these chapters, but trust me. If I let each little mission have its own chapter and still have my character development and backstories, this story would have 100+ chapters and ain't nobody got time for that! Plus, it allows me to have the perfect timing for y'all Christmas Eve/Christmas Day present *squeal* Disclaimer: Seriously guys, I don't own Pokémon or the characters.**


	16. Memories and Teachings

**Memories and Teaching**

Kate's POV

I woke up the next morning to a pillow hitting my face; I already knew who the perpetrator was.

"Crawford, you have exactly 10 seconds until I punch your lights out." I growled, muffled from the fact I was under a pillow.

"Sorry to disappoint, Rider." It was Elaine!

"Elaaaaaine, why must you torment me this way," I whined like a little toddler.

"Because you weren't getting up and Afro was too chicken to wake you up himself." I groaned as I looked at the time.

"But at 7:30 in the morning?! Isn't it a sin to be up at 7:30?" She laughed.

"Not when you're going to the Ranger School to teach Outdoor Class." My eyes shot open.

"Hold on, when was the executive decision made to be that I should go? Why do y'all trust me with kiddos?" Elaine raised her eyebrow.

"Because Chief can't do it because he's gone, Crawford did it last time, I'm not a Ranger, and Luana's not good with crowds." I groaned again and flopped out of bed.

I lazily took a shower and tied my long mane of brown hair into a low ponytail with a thick piece of blue ribbon. I walked out the door with a disposable cup of coffee and a mouthful of a bagel. On the bridge that connected Vientown to the school, there were some Dim Sun dorks messing with a Croagunk under hypnosis by that laptop thingy I saw at Peril Cliffs. Strangely enough, the laptop didn't throw my hearing aid out of whack.

"Hey, dumbasses!" They whirled around to face me, I barely controlled my laughter. "Why don't y'all just release the Pokémon and get out of here before I go over there and get payback for what you did."

They sized me up, and then the higher-up spoke, "It's fine, it's just another wannabe Ranger who's playing hero." I snarled at them.

"Says the guy who's working for an organization named after a cheap takeout dish," I smirked as the duo squirmed for a good comeback.

"Don't let her get to you, let's just show her the power of the Miniremo!" The grunt proceeded to get smacked by his boss.

"You idiot, she wasn't supposed to know what this is!" The other guy stuttered apologies and tried to get the Croagunk to attack me.

After a few minutes of them fumbling around with the keypad and I just standing there with my coffee, they finally decided to manually push the Pokémon into battle. I just shrugged and captured the poor dear without setting down my coffee cup. Once I finished, the geeks were freaking out over which way to go. Eventually, they jumped over the sides of the bridge while I was laughing like a maniac!

I walked past the bridge and came upon the academy that was my home only a couple months ago. I walked up the steps feeling nostalgic until I was stopped by Ms. April.

"Oh my, Kate is that you?" I laughed and nodded.

"My Arceus you have grown! Well, you probably don't want to hear me dote on you and besides the kids are waiting to see their Outdoor Class teacher." I followed her down the steps to Ascension Square where I saw all the students staring at me in awe.

"Class, this is Kate O'Malley. She's an Area Ranger in Vientown and graduated only a couple months ago. You may begin the Question and Answer Session of Terror!" I smiled as Ms. April slowly backed away from the group.

"What made you become a Ranger?" Always the generic questions first.

"I've always wanted to help people and Pokémon and being in a small family of Rangers helped me realize that dream." The kid smiled in approval.

"Can Rangers go home a lot?" Yikes, this kid looked like he would get easily homesick.

"Well, it depends on where you live. Like for me, my family lives in Fiore so I can't visit my family every day. But if you're stationed in the same region as your family, then I bet you could visit them every so often." The kid looked a bit uneasy, but regained his composure.

Then I heard a little voice pipe up, "Can I touch your styler?"

"Yes, yes of course. Come on up here." I saw the crowd part for a girl who was in a wheelchair.

I immediately went over to her side, "Wow…so cool!" I laughed a little and eventually passed around my styler for everyone to see.

"Yo, teach. I have a question." I whipped around to see those sopping wet goons from this morning. "Why did you have to throw us off the bridge this morning?"

I popped up an eyebrow at them, "BRING, time's up. Well, how about we give you a lesson in a Miniremo pounding!"

I growled, "Don't you dare even think about harming those students."

"Aright, I guess we'll just have to hurt you then." The guy typed on the keypad for a bit and then 2 Carnivine showed up and attacked me.

I kept dodging their attacks while trying to keep them away from the kids. After a few minutes of dancing around, I whipped out my capture disc and ensnarled them into the loops until the capture was complete. I reveled as the Miniremo blew up in their face and ran away like a scalded Meowth. The students cheered as Principal Lamont herded them back inside.

"One more thing, Kate," I turned to Mr. Lamont, "Chairperson Erma, is she in good health?"

I smiled at his concern, "Yes sir, she's fit as a fiddle." He nodded his thanks.

"Ms. April may I ask a question?" She turned to me.

"Yes, dear," I pointed at the girl that Lamont and the other teacher were helping up the stairs.

"Who was that girl in the wheelchair?" She frowned a bit.

"That's Rena; she fell down the stairs and fractured both of her legs. But don't worry dear; she'll be walking long before she graduates." I sighed out of relief.

"Thank you, Ms. April. Man I miss coming here. I love being a Ranger and all, but sometimes I just want to take a break from all of the Dim Sun stress." She chuckled.

"That's not the only reason you want to come back is it?" My face turned bright red.

"True, I miss Rythmi and Keith a lot. I see Isaac sometimes; he's one of the head researchers at Altru Inc. I just miss knowing where everybody is and what they're doing." She patted my shoulder.

"I know dear, but you must live for now! Yes, embrace the past but don't wallow in it. Who knows, maybe in the future you might see your friends again. Oh and one last thing before you leave; don't forget to smile" I gave her a hug and walked out the gates reliving every moment that I was there.

I walked back to the base to see Crawford with a proud smile slapped on his face, "Hey…what's up?"

He came over and hugged me, "Lamont told me all about what you did. I can't believe you faced them alone, and not killed them!" I rolled my eyes.

"I have some self-control, geez. Oh and I need you to get the base together for a meeting, I have some information I need to share." Crawford told the operator to send out a mass voice mail telling everybody to report back to the base.

About 5 minutes later, everybody was here, I stood up in front of everybody, "Guys, I have some more information on Dim Sun, mainly one of their inventions." I walked over to the screen where I tied to recreate the Miniremo with my laptop. "This is a Miniremo, it's the new way the Dim Sun can now control Pokémon. This bad boy has over 100 commands for the Pokémon; they can handle anything from 1 Pokémon to maybe a 10. I experienced them on my way and during Outdoor class."

Elaine came over to the screen I had crudely set up, "If this thing uses the same frequencies as the Gigaremo, then how could you be able to teach Outdoor Class? Don't the hypnotic frequencies shorten out your hearing aid?"

"That's where I'm confused, maybe since the machine enables more 1-on-1 contact then the frequencies are more directed to the Pokémon. Also, whenever you capture the Pokémon that's under control, then the Miniremo blows up in a non-deadly explosion." I saw Crawford leave the room as he was getting a voice mail." Luana told the operator to set up a voice mail meeting with Chairperson Erma when Crawford came back in.

"Rider, you need to go to Boyleland now. The Union lost Chief's styler signal, the last time it was seen was when he was in the Volcano Cave." His expression was fear and anger at the same time.

"I'm on it, boss. I'll be back soon." I whistled for Pachi and sprinted to Pueltown. I silently prayed, please let Chief be safe!

**A.N. Merry Christmas Eve! I don't know about y'all but I'm spending Christmas with my adorable little cousin Beth, she's 4 years old and positively adorable! In fact, she's sitting on me as I write this. Anywho, I hope y'all have an AMAZING Christmas and I'll see (or type) y'all tomorrow when I give y'all your Christmas present! Bethie, do the disclaimer for us, please. Bethie: scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokémon but says it'd be a great Christmas gift!**


	17. My Dreams Come True and Then Some

**My Dreams Come True and Then Some**

Kate's POV

I sprinted through the forest and didn't stop until I reached the boathouse where I met up with a Captain Boyle. We hopped on his boat and drove off. I couldn't help but worrying about Chief, then I started worrying over what Dim Sun might do, and since they have secure holdings in Fiore- not stop. I'll not help myself by thinking this way.

A half-hour later, we were in Boyleland. I ran to the cave entrance to find that there was a locked gate in front of it. I grabbed my pocket knife and a spare bobby pin and proceeded to pick the lock like the master I was. Finally the gate gave way and I was about to go in until a young girl about 9 or 10 came up to me.

"Are you looking for that other Ranger that went in yesterday?" I nodded.

"Well, could you also look for a Mime Jr., he's my grandpa's pride and joy and he hasn't been the same sine Mime Jr. was kidnapped." I smiled and nodded.

I ran into the cave without hesitation and proceeded to make my way through the maze. I met up with a couple of grunts, but they were nothing to me. One of them tried to block an entrance by blowing up some rock, but I just climbed up the staircase to the bridge and jumped down. I found Barlow's styler right by the door after hearing my bad ankle give off a sickening pop.

Through the cave door, I found a secret harbor with a large cargo ship that was probably loaded with Pokémon. I saw that an Admin dismissed a bunch of grunts to patrol the area. I stealthily made my way through until one grunt almost caught me, he was about to raise the alarm until I punched him in the jugular. What? I panicked and it's not like I killed him!

Anyway, I was able to make it onto the ship without being seen. I saw a couple grunts talking near what looked to be an oversized bathtub plug, "Now kid, this is the Kingston Valve. It controls whether this boat stays afloat or sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Make sure that no stinkin' Rangers get near this thing, understand?"

"Dude, like any Ranger could make it on this boat besides the one we kidnapped last night, this is a kickback job." I rolled my eyes and snuck away from them. In the next room, I saw a blue Gigaremo controlling the rooms Pokémon. I sent Pachi over to the machine since she could easily evade the giant Pokémon in the room. I found a safe place to stay on one of the cargo boxes. I scouted around to see if there was an exit, then I saw a Mime Jr. jumping by the door as if it were trying to get my attention.

Once Pachi came back on my shoulder, we took off for that door. After jumping from crate to crate and almost getting a concussion from an extremely pissed off Machoke, we were in the next room. It was then that I realized that my hearing aid was deader than a doornail. I groaned silently and looked at the next Gigaremo, I swear it's like the guys were trying to get rid of them. It was a yellow one so I easily broke it with a well-placed roundhouse kick.

After that, I lost sight of the Mime Jr., but there were more pressing matters at the moment. I ran into room after room defeating grunt after grunt in the world of silence. Finally I reached the room where Chief was, although he didn't recognize me due to the lack of light and tripped me.

I moved behind him and cut the ropes loose, what else could I do? I couldn't talk at the moment for fear that I'd be too loud. When I cut him and his Makuhita loose, I felt around for a light switch and turned it on.

Barlow was probably going on about how he was so grateful that he found me until he realized I wasn't listening.

"_Rider, you alright?"_ I handed him back his styler.

"_Yeah, you might want to check your messages later though. There were 2 Gigaremos in the other rooms and they shot out my hearing aid." _ He smiled and then I think he apologized to Makuhita.

I saw a door I the back of the room, but it was locked from the outside. I tugged and pulled with all my might, but it all ended in vain. Barlow tugged me away from the door and executed his version of a Target Clear. He back up 10 feet from the door and rammed into it at full speed! I felt 2 doors hit the floor and ran through the empty doorways to see if he was alright.

I helped Barlow up in what I assumed to be the captain's room. I saw racks and racks of the same outfit and the air stank with perfume. I felt the fabric of the outfits between my fingers trying to rack my brain to find out where the memory was. After 2 minutes, Barlow ushered me from the room and led me up to the top deck.

We ran through grunt after grunt, it seemed as if their army never ended. I began to feel tired, but I understood that I had to keep pushing myself for the sake of the Pokémon. Finally, we made it to the top deck. There was a man up at the helm of the ship with his back turned to us. I saw a part of his hair stick out in a familiar style. Barlow caught his attention by yelling some probably not-so-nice things to him. He turned around to acknowledge us, but his jacket and glasses kept me from recognizing him.

He sent out a small platoon of grunts and admins, but Barlow and I defeated them with ease. After their humiliating defeat, they told the captain something and then proceeded to jump ship! I looked to Barlow with wide eyes and he just waved off my concern. He allowed me to handle the second platoon while he handled Hairspray Head. It took a little longer to decimate the second squad since I was on my own, but it was done. Once again, they jumped ship and I turned around to see Chief grasping his styler and his arm in pain. I didn't even need an explanation, I just turned to the captain with rage in my eyes.

He laughed manically ad threw off his jacket and glasses. I gasped as I saw Mr. Kincaid, the teacher that I abhorred during Ranger School. He was telling me his maniacal plan and I just glanced to Barlow to see if he was listening. He seemed to get the message and slightly nodded back at me. When he was finished, he sent out his Drapion and the battle commenced.

The Pokémon's first attack was shooting poison darts which I narrowly avoided. He then sent out a poison cloud which I unfortunately breathed in I kept the loops going around him as I couched and hacked. His final attack was a slash across my chest in a diagonal way (it was a miracle that my breasts were spared) when I closed that final loop. I saw him call on his Gligar and before he left the ship, he called out one final order that greatly upset Barlow.

I whirled around to help him up, _"Rider, Kincaid's given orders to pull out the Kingston Valve and sink this place."_

Tears started pricking my eyes as I helped him to the control room when I suddenly got an idea,_ "Chief, why don't I just go down there and put the Kingston Valve back in? If you just get the_ _Pokémon up here, then that'll reduce the traffic in the hallways."_

I saw that he was about to protest, but I cut him off, _"Chief, it's our only option, I know there's a risk factor but isn't there always? I'm willing to do this, with or without your permission."_

He grimly nodded and announced that all the Pokémon are to report to the control room. I captured a Machoke and headed for the valve. Barlow gave me an estimate of 2 minutes until this ship sinks. I ran across the cargo holders and into the Kingston Valve room. I ordered the Machoke to put the plug back in place and to return to the control room. Right after he went up, Barlow took a sharp left turn, I guess he found a pier or something and all the cargo containers were thrown, along with us, to the left wall of the ship. I held Pachi close as the boxes fell on top of us and the ship crashed. Thankfully the containers fell in a way that we weren't crushed.

About 30 minutes later, I felt footsteps coming onto the ship. I called out for help as loud as I could and then the boxes on top of me started to shift until I saw Dad's and Spenser's tearful faces. Wait, Dad and Spenser? I must be hallucinating from the blood loss. I felt myself and Pachi being lifted up and carried off the ship. I wasn't passed out for sure, but I felt really woozy as I was flown into the air towards Vientown.

A couple hours later I felt more alert than I did. I was in the main room on a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and bandages carefully wrapped around my chest. I saw a little girl who looked like Jamie playing with Pachi. She looked over at me and yelled, "She's awake! Daddy, she's awake!"

Awake? I never fell asleep, oh well. Then I saw my Dad walk in with Jamie? She ran over to my bed and attempted to climb on. Eventually I helped her up and that's when I realized 2 very crucial things. 1. I could hear again and 2. My family was here.

My dad sensed my confusion, "Spenser and I were informed that you were dispatched on a very important mission and to be here in case you ended up in the hospital."

I reached out my arms and hugged him. I cried a little because now I knew for myself that my daddy was okay! He and Jamie were okay! I heard the door open and Spenser came in quietly.

"How's my baby Ranger?" I chuckled.

"I'm fine…thank y'all for rescuing me. I don't know what I would've one without you" Dad and Spenser both smiled at me.

"No problem, just don't make it a regular habit to nearly get killed, your poor old Dad can't take much more." I giggled as my dad tried to crack a joke.

Spenser looked at me and I saw an envelope in his hands that had already been opened, "Ah, I see you want to know what's in the envelope." I nodded.

"Well, it appears our little girl, Jake, ain't going to be little for long." My dad and I both quirked and eyebrow as Jamie continued playing with Pachi on my bed.

"Rider, you are officially the 11th Top Ranger! You're to move to the Union as soon as you recover! You're up there with the big leagues, girlie!" I beamed as both Dad and Spenser congratulated me and went to go pack my stuff.

I looked over at Jamie who had a look of sadness, "Hon, what's wrong?"

She sniffled, "W-well you're g-going to be g-gone a lot more now." My heart wrenched.

"Jamie, you know that I'll visit as soon as I can." Then an idea popped into my head, "Say, you like playing with Pachi, right?"

She smiled, as did Pachi, "Yeah! We love playing with each other!"

"Will you promise to take care of her; bathe her, feed her, and play with her often?" She smiled and nodded.

"Well then, she's yours. Keep her as a reminder that I'll always come home to you." I kissed the top of her forehead.

She scampered off to tell Dad and Spenser while Elaine and Crawford came in to untangle me from all the wires.

"I can't believe my little cousin's moving to the Union! You know, there's a celebration outside and there's a special guest too." I saw Crawford smile 'innocently' as I leapt from the bed to run outside.

I was met by the whole town cheering and Big Bertha giving me a cup of milk pudding. Barlow gave 10 toasts about how it was a blessing to the whole town that I was stationed here, I admit I almost cried. Then Dad and Spenser said they had a present for me. The covered my eyes with Elaine's rag until they told me I could take it off. When they told me to, I ripped it off seeing my Rapidash standing there saddle and all with Elita riding him. I surged forward to hug them both and saddled up to go to the Union. I said my final goodbyes and dashed out of Vientown.

I galloped through the Vien Forest for possible the final time. I met up with Wendy on Lookout Ridge.

"Hey there, Rider. Excited about your new promotion?" I laughed.

"Is that even a question?" She chuckled.

"Well, I was supposed to escort you to the Union but it looks like you already have a ride." I laughed nervously, I'm still a bit of a fan girl.

"Yeah, he's my new Partner Pokémon since my little sister stole Pachi from me." We both laughed.

"Alright, since you probably remember where the Union is, I'm just going to do some practice drills with my Staraptor." Then she flew into the sky.

I allowed Rapidash to go full speed which got me to Union in about a minute. I hopped off the horse Pokémon and dashed inside and ran into Murph.

"Welcome, Top Ranger you are now the-." I cut him off.

"Murph, I'd love to hear your speech, but I might be late for my meeting with Prof. Hastings." Murph laughed.

"I was hoping you'd cut me off, I honestly don't know half of what I was saying. Prof. Hastings is in the meeting room that you gave the presentation in." I yelled a thank you as I ran up the escalator.

I calmly walked into the meeting room and attempted to get my nerves under control. I walked up to Prof. Hastings and Chairperson Erma.

"Welcome to Union, dearie. I pray your journey with Wendy went well?" I rubbed my elbows.

"I actually came here on my Rapidash, he's my Partner Pokémon after I gave my Pachirisu to my baby sister as a present." She smiled kindly at me.

"That was sweet of you, dear. I apologize for the wait, but we're just waiting for the other Top Ranger to get here." All of the sudden the doors swung open.

"I'm so sorry for being late, but there a small emergency in Pueltown that I had to solve." That voice, it sounds familiar.

"It's alright, dearie. I know about the emergency and thank you for responding right away." I heard him relax.

Prof. Hastings took the floor and explained about who Top Rangers are and how the Fine Styler works. But after about 10 minutes, my battery ran out and I discreetly signed to prof. Hastings who, without missing a beat, walked over to me and handed me a spare battery. I took out my hearing aid and replaced the battery. After we finished, Chairperson Erma was laughing.

"Is there something wrong, ma'am?" She turned to me and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"My dears, have you not realized who you're with?" The teen boy and I shook our heads.

Erma looked exasperated, "Tell you what, Hastings and I will be on the 3rd floor and you can follow after you two catch up."

They left the room and when the door shut, we finally looked at each other. I saw flame-red hair and grass-green eyes.

"Keith!? Is that you?" He laughed, holy shit his voice got deeper!

"In the flesh, man have I missed you Alley Cat." For some reason my heart did a little relay race when I saw him smile.

He went in for a hug, "Wait! Be careful, I got a couple new injuries."

His face was morphed into concern and his voice took on a new tone, "Kate, what happened?"

"I was rescuing Barlow from the Dim Sun cargo ship and we were trying to find out a way to stop the ship. We ended battling the captain who was Kincaid and his Drapion sliced my chest diagonally before I captured it. Then Kincaid ordered that the ship was to be sunk after he flew on his Gligar, so while Barlow was steering the ship, I was running to put the Kingston Valve back into place. Barlow made a sharp turn for the school and I got thrown into some boxes and nearly passed out." I honestly thought Keith was about to punch a wall he looked so mad.

"Kincaid did this to you?" He seethed through his teeth.

I placed my arm on his shoulder, "Whoa there, Hulk. I'm just as pissed as the next guy, but being uncontrollably angry about it won't help. Let's go check what's on the 3rd floor and then you are going to tell me everything that happened in Fiore." He laughed.

"Still bossy, Alley Cat." I whirled around to face him.

"Oh hell yeah! Now come on, Slowpoke!" I ran up the escalator with Keith right behind me.

Once we got there, Chairperson Erma started introducing the Top Operators. I wasn't paying too much attention until she got to the girl with wavy blonde hair.

She turned around, "Hi, I'm Rythmi and I'm so excited to be here because I graduated not ev- Wait, you're Keith and Kate!"

I laughed, "Last time we checked, yes!" She ran over to the both of us and gave me a tight hug which hurt like hell, but the thought was nice.

I heard Erma laugh, "You three being here is no coincidence. Ms. April kept me posted on how you three pledged to stay together and work far beyond making your dreams a reality. The Union needs Top Rangers and Operators who are like that. I'll let y'all catch up, oh and before I forget," She tossed me and Keith a room key, "These are the keys to your shared room."

Keith and I both went red at the face, "What's wrong, I thought y'all were used to sharing a room?" I saw a devious smirk playing on Ryth's lips.

I rolled my eyes at her and talked with her and Keith for a couple more hours before Keith and I decided to retire. One in our room, I saw my duffel bad on one bed and Keith's bag on another. I made a Combee-line to the restroom to replace my bandages. I saw the blood marks on the old bandages and the wounds across my chest. I felt like crying because it hurt so much! I mean you try getting your chest nearly sliced open and you tell me how it feels! I wrapped up the scratched in a new set of bandages and left the bathroom. I grabbed my pain-killers from my bag and was about to swallow them when I saw Keith staring at me.

"What? Am I doing something wrong?" He looked at me with his eyes tinged with red.

"No…it's just that I wish I was there to protect you. I mean you have enough scars already." I went over to him and sat next to him on his bed.

"Now you know how I felt when my dad was attacked. But you got to understand that we can't always protect everyone, but we can give a damn good try." He chuckled.

"See, there's the Keith that I saw when I graduated!" He busted a gut laughing.

"I'm glad to see that you haven't changed, Alley Cat." I laughed along with him when I saw something right beside my bag.

"What's this?" I pulled up a pair of boot-cut pants with a matching shirt. (Imagine Sven's uniform except for where's there's red its white and where it's white it is red. And the shirt is a quarter-sleeve with the vest.)

"I think that's your new uniform. We get new uniforms since we're Top Rangers." I still couldn't believe my promotion.

I looked over at the clock, "Yikes, its 11 p.m.! We should go get to sleep if we want to be well-rested tomorrow." I snuggled under my blankets.

"Alley Cat, you're never 'well-rested." I stuck out my tongue at him and flicked the lights out. Finally my dreams had come true!

**A.N. Holy Crap! I think that was the longest chapter I have written! Whew, but it was worth it since y'all have been so faithful throughout the story. I also want to give fennikenfan and Sakura Touko because these guys have been with me since the beginning and have kept me going with their reviews! Thank you to each one of my readers and have a very, Merry Christmas. Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.**


	18. My First Day Suprises

**My First Day Surprises **

Keith's POV

I woke up early the next morning to find that Alley Cat was still passed out on her bed. I go dressed in my uniform which was black cargo shorts, with a matching top with a red vest. I went over to her nightstand and looked at her stuff. Don't stare at me like that, I was curious okay! Anyways, I saw in one of her drawers the bracelet I had given to her for Christmas. It made me warm inside that she kept the present through all those months.

I remembered when I taught Outdoor Class in Summerland. Okay it wasn't called Outdoor Class but it was basically the same thing except the kids were way younger, like a few years older than Jamie. They had me go and talk about being a Ranger so they could see it as a possible dream they could achieve. One of the questions the kids asked me was, 'Did I have a sweetheart?' I'm pretty sure my face was redder than my hair, but why? I surely didn't like Ryth or any of the other girl from the school, and I couldn't like Alley Cat because we were too good of friends. Then my subconscious kicked in and thought, 'You've always wanted to be more than that since you two separated.' God, I hated my mind sometimes.

I looked down at Alley Cat and smiled, even asleep with her hair all over the place, she still looked pretty decent. I tried shaking her awake, but to no avail. Then I got a devilish idea. I grabbed one of her water bottles and filed it with cold water, I crept over to her bed and dumped the water on her.

She shot up and looked straight at me, "Keith, you have 10 seconds to say your prayers."

I had to laugh, "Don't get grumpy with me, Feisty Pants. You're the one who couldn't wake up on her own."

She growled as she snatched up her clothes and went to the shower. I went ahead and left for the 3rd floor to get me and Alley Cat's assignments for the day. I power-walked up the stairs to see Chairperson Erma smiling at me.

"Good morning, dearie. I trust you slept well." I nodded and smiled.

"Yes ma'am. Do you have any missions that Kate and I need to go on?" She turned around to the Trouble-Spot monitor.

"No dire missions at the moment, just patrol with Kate until I call you back in." I saluted her and ran back to the second floor.

I saw Wendy putting Alley Cat's hair in an Almian Twist (French Twist) and Alley Cat looked like she was about to die of happiness. Her side-part bangs were still framing her face. I saw Wendy finish with a sense of pride as Kate felt the twist and beamed. I walked over to her, "Alley Cat, Erma wants us to patrol the area until further notice."

I saw Wendy smirk at Alley Cat who stuck her tongue at the older Ranger. I rolled my eyes because I didn't want to know the story. We exited the building and went over to the hitching post where her Rapidash was tied.

"Keith, where's Zeal? You brought him with you, right?" I chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, he's here with me, although he isn't a Buizel anymore." Kate went slack-jaw

"He evolved! When did this happen?!" We walked down to Dream River where I saw Zeal swimming in the river with the other Floatzels and Buizels.

"He evolved during my fight with Lavana's Infernape." I saw her smile be replaced by a scowl.

"Whoa there, Alley Cat. I beat her, she probably isn't going to show her face anymore." She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not mad about that, I'm mad because Lavana decided to take this fight to both Almia and Fiore." I got up from the river and told Zeal to stay there.

"I know you're worried about your family, but the Rangers there will take care of them." She smiled a bit as she hopped into her saddle.

"You're right, and Spenser would raise hell if Jamie or I got injured." I laughed as I walked beside her.

"He almost did when the Union called and said that you might be killed in the mission. He flew to Wintown (**A.N. Okay, this is an official Stupid Moment for me because I played the first Pokemon Ranger game and Windtown is spelled Wintown. Pardon my extreme stupidity**) and I have never seen rage on his face before and I don't want to see it again." I shuddered at the memory.

"Was there any place Erma said to patrol or just the general region?" I shrugged my arms.

"Just the general area until we're called back." I saw her smile deviously.

"Alley Cat, what are you planning?" She looked down at me with huge, innocent eyes.

"Oh nothing, but you might want to hop on Rapidash and hold on for dear life." I raised my eyebrow as I boarded the horse Pokémon.

Then the horse took off at full speed through Pueltown and well into Vien Forest until we saw a ridge. I looked over at Alley Cat who took a seat at the edge of the ridge. I walked over to her and sat down.

"This is Lookout Ridge, so far, it's my favorite place in all Almia." I looked over to her and smiled. It was only 8 o'clock and I think this was my favorite day of all.

"I had a feeling. Oh and guess what piece of gossip I picked up." She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Ryth liking Isaac now would it?" Dammit, she guessed it!

"You guessed it. I knew there was something going on between those two." We both laughed over how awkward Ryth and Isaac used to be with each other.

Then my styler went off, Erma wanted us to head back to the Union ASAP! We hopped back on Alley Cat's Rapidash and had him go full speed to the Union. When we got there, we immediately raced up to the 3rd floor where we saw Erma, Wendy, and all the other Operators.

"Ah, welcome back. I trust patrol went well?" Alley Cat answered for me.

"Yes ma'am, you called us back for something?" Man, Alley Cat could actually be civil to some people?

"Yes, one of our Top Rangers, Sven," I saw Alley Cat smile which sparked off a weird, almost loathing feeling for the guy, "Was investigating some instances in the Chroma Highlands and Chroma Ruins. He recently reported that there were too many Dim Sun grunts for him to handle and asked us to send over a couple of Rangers. The Chroma Highlands are west of Altru Park. Good luck, dearies." We saluted Chairperson Erma and left the building.

I whistled for Zeal as Alley Cat saddled up her Rapidash, "Alley Cat, you have to name that Pokémon, and it can't contain the words Rapid or Dash." She rolled her eyes as she helped me onto the Pokémon.

"I'll think of one when I think of one." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes as she started him up.

Kate's POV

I sent my Rapidash going and thought about what Wendy said this morning. She said that Keith and I would make a 'cute couple.' I'm not sure how I even feel about Keith! How can I even see him in that light, we're just too close! Besides, dating between Rangers is a very bad idea. I'll stress over it later, right now, I have to think about the mission.

Man, I haven't seen Sven in so long! It was a shame he couldn't come home for Christmas. I remember when I first saw him; I was walking into the base because Elita had called and told me that the AC was acting up. I climbed through the vents and saw that Elita and Silent Chris were greeting somebody. Apparently it was Silent Chris's brother who was going to be working at the base for a few weeks. Bear in mind, he was 13 and I was 8 just to clear up any confusion. Anyway, the duct had a piece of jagged metal that I didn't see and it scraped my arm in a jagged line. I cried out in pain and Elita had to unscrew the vent and carefully get me down. Sven ended up treating me and has taken the role of the overprotective brother ever since.

"I can't wait to see Sven again!" I looked back to see Keith's jealous face.

"Dude, what's with the face? You look like you just ate 3 lemons." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm just wondering why Sven is so special to you." I yanked on Rapidash's reins.

I turned around on the saddle so that I was facing him, "Why are you so jealous?"

"I'm not jealous, I'm just wondering who this Sven guy is." I rolled my eyes.

"You are so jealous," I poked his cheeks (which lost most of their baby fat).

He swatted my hands away, "Stop that!"

"Not until you admit you're jealous and why!" I kept poking his cheeks incisively.

"Ugh, fine. I'm jealous because I don't know this guy so I don't know what kind of effect he has on you." I laughed so hard I almost fell out of the saddle.

"Keith, you realize that Sven is like 19 and I'm 16, he's basically m brother. In fact, he's Silent Chris's brother so dating him would be kind of gross." His jaw dropped.

I cackled and got Rapidash moving again on Chroma Road, we reached the Highlands about 5 minutes later. There was this weird smog in the air with a Dim Sun goon 'guarding the entrance. Keith easily defeated him since my hearing aid was bugging me too much to battle. After that, Keith ran off to look for a Skarmory while I looked for an exit.

Eventually he found one and used Demist to lift the smog away. We found an exit, but the entrance to the ruins was blocked by a big stone block. Keith ran off to find a Bastidon while I informed Erma of what was happening so far. He came back after I closed my voice mail and used its area move to decimate the stone block. We descended down the steps after I ordered my Rapidash to stay in the Highlands. Little did I know, things were about to get interesting.

**A.N. Hey guys, hope y'all liked your Christmas present. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others, but y'all look; we're 50% done with the story. Now obviously I will take other liberties and write more adaptations, heck I might even rewrite this one if I find time. Anyway, before I get too carried away, DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or the characters or the Frozen moment in this chapter. **


	19. Ladies Don't Start Fights

**Ladies Don't Start Fights, But Who Said I Was A Lady**

Kate's POV

I tripped down the stairs, what? It was darker than Kincaid's heart, okay maybe not that dark. I looked back to see Keith barely controlling himself.

"You, sir, are an ass." He just lost it then.

"It's not my fault that you forgot how to walk." I stuck my tongue at him as he helped me off the floor.

We looked around to see if there were any passages we could take, we only saw a Driftblim and an opening in the ceiling. I got an idea, I captured the Driftblim with ease and took it over to the opening above us.

"Alley Cat, what the hell are you doing?" I smirked.

"Finding a way for us to get out of this place. Here, grab on to one of the Driftblim's strings." He grabbed on with slight hesitation.

I gave the Pokémon the order to lift us through the hole, but it was a slow process. I started slipping and was failing to reapply my grip. Just as I was about to fall, Keith grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Our faces were centimeters and redder than lava as he put a more securing grip around my waist. I don't know why, but that action made my stomach feel all flighty and my heart started beating faster. I kind of liked that feeling, but it also felt super weird.

Once we reached the next level, we stood away from each other awkwardly until I fell through some loose sand and landed on my bad ankle, again.

"Alley Cat, are you okay?!" I held up my arm to block any other potentially falling debris.

"Yeah, I'm fine…at least I think I am." He jumped through the hole and checked on my bad ankle.

He took off my boot to wrap up my ankle and then put it back on to help reduce the size of the swelling.

"Arceus Alley Cat, do you have to get hurt all the time?!" I laughed a bit.

"Well, I guess it's a part of my natural-born talents." He chuckled as he helped me up, again.

We walked through a maze of caves trying to avoid Hypnos and Sableye. I was leaning onto Keith most of the time, but when I started feeling better I was walking with a limp. There was a small passageway with Koffing and they were releasing their poisonous gases into the air.

"We should probably run through it." I gave Keith a deadpan look.

"Yes, because I can totally sprint with a busted ankle." Keith looked at me sheepishly.

"I forgot about that, sorry. Hey, I have an idea!" My face paled; the last time Keith had an idea I got Ryth chasing me outside for a half-hour.

He picked me up fireman-style and proceeded to haul ass through the passageway. Once we got through, he set me down very carefully and I smacked him upside the head.

"Ow, what was that for, Alley Cat?!" I smirked as he rubbed his head.

"Next time, let me know when you're about to pick me up!" He rolled his eyes and kept walking forward.

We kept walking until we were in a room with lots of holed in the ground. We found out that each hole led to a different room. After 20 minutes of falling and climbing, we passed by a room full that stunk worse than a pile of week old gym socks. Keith and I held our noses as we ran past the doors.

The next room was filled with white crystals that made the whole room look heavenly. We kept walking until I saw a red cowboy hat, I crept up behind him and tried to get a view of the situation. I saw Dim Sun goons scouring the area for something, they were talking too softly for me to understand.

I looked back to see Keith gone, _"Where did Keith go?"_

"_He went to go get a Skuntank, said it might help with getting rid of those grunts." _Then he turned towards the grunts, _"They're looking for Dark Shards, they come off of a much larger piece called the Shadow Crystal, those things power all their Gigaremos and Miniremos."_

I then realized that I couldn't hear anything, not even my own breathing. I was about to show Sven when Keith showed up. They talked about something, probably how much the air stunk when they suddenly looked at me. I read Keith's lips and found out that I was going to have the honor of unleashing the putrid scent on the goons.

I panicked as they quietly showed me the plan. How could I go through with this if I can't hear a damn thing!? I followed the drawing in the dirt and prayed that I didn't make a fool of myself. I walked out there with the Pokémon, trying to put on an air of confidence. I saw all the grunts gathering around me, looking like vultures as they eyed me up and down. They kept coming closer until I finally had enough, I punched the first guy in the stomach and the second one in the jaw. I did a roundhouse kick on a guy that was too close to my backside for my liking and gave Skuntank the order to unleash it's full stench.

The grunts ran around in a mass panic until they passed out. Meanwhile, I guess my lungs hadn't fully recovered from Drapion's poison because by the time it had dissipated, I was leaning on Keith's shoulder and quite unglamorously hacking my lungs out. When I finally caught my breath, I walked over to the grunts.

"_There's nothing but the light stones in their pockets."_ They both just stared at me.

Sven pinched the bridge of his nose while Keith looked a bit relieved, _"You mean to say that this whole time, you couldn't hear a damn thing?!"_

I looked sheepishly at the floor, _"Yeah, but there wasn't an opportunity to tell y'all. By the way, I think I found out what exactly is causing my hearing loss."_

Sven looked relieved, _"That's good, now let's keep moving on."_

Keith and I followed him into another room,_ "What were those dorks saying earlier?"_

He rubbed the back of his neck, _"I'll tell you back at the base."_

I shrugged and followed Sven into a room where the main attraction was 5 odd stones set up in the center of the room. I tried to get close, but a high-pitched sound came into my ears and literally brought me to my knees. I covered my ears in a hopeless attempt to block out the noise. Keith and Sven ran over to my side trying to see what the problem was. I pointed in the direction where I first felt the signal.

Sven told Keith to go and see what was causing the signal when Spiritomb appeared from the 5 rocks. I saw Keith capture them with such energy that I'd never seen before. I kept convulsing on the on the ground probably shouting make it stop at the top of my lungs. Sven just kneeled at my side rubbing my back in an attempt to calm me down. Thankfully, Keith finished as quickly as he did, he picked me up fireman-style and hauled me up the ladder where we saw a big hole in the wall with an altar surrounding it. The signal this time was a lot stronger and more painful than ever. I started crying because it hurt so much, I felt the vibrations of Sven yelling at Keith to get me out of there. He hauled me up another ladder and finally it stopped when we broke the surface.

I hugged Keith as tight as I could, I even cried a little, but the pain was just unimaginable. I saw through my tears that there was an old shack, we went inside and started snooping around. I found an old journal that was badly burnt to the point of illegible. I stuffed the journal inside my vest and sunk down against a wall. So much for my first Top Ranger mission, I just had to be the one with the crisis. Oh Arceus, what if this a test to see if I'm worthy of the post? What if they decide I'm not good enough? What if- my pessimistic thoughts were cut off by an odd vibration in the ground.

Keith ran over to see Ponte in a Dim Sun uniform- wait what? Ponte couldn't be Dim Sun, he was the conflicted marshmallow boy! Apparently he explained himself to Keith who interpreted to me. According to him, Ponte was only Dim Sun for a day before he left them. That's good, I'd hate to be fighting against my friends. After some catching up, we excused ourselves and left for the Union to report. Keith told Sven what happened inside the shack. He decided to hang back and walk with Sven while I rode back on Rapidash.

I got back to the Union about 10 minutes later, I didn't want him going full speed again and I was in no hurry to report that I had been utterly useless on the mission and didn't really do anything but play the stereotypical damsel in distress. I tied Rapidash back to the hitching post and walked inside. I guess Keith and Sven got there before me because Prof. Hastings immediately took out my hearing aid and rushed it to the Research Room. Erma allowed me to take the rest of the day off, I kindly thanked her and went straight to my room. I sat on my bed and looked through the old photo album that Dad gave me for Christmas. Tears pricked my eyes as every unkind word and deed came back to me in a flooded memory.

I gently set the book aside and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started sketching. It's something I do when I'm upset, I wasn't really sketching anything just random lines on a page. I saw a splinter of light come from the doorway, I saw Keith come in. I breathed deeply as I tried to contain my emotions. Conceal, don't feel; those were the words I used when Jamie's mother died. Of course I broke that vow about 20 minutes after the funeral ended, but whatever.

He came over to my bed and sat down next to me, _"Alley Cat, you were really brave out there."_

I scoffed,_ "Yeah, because falling over and screaming in pain 90% of the time is really brave."_

Keith immediately hugged me, _"It is! When I saw you staring down those grunts, I thought you were going to maim them or something! And when your ear picked up that signal, you kept going even though it hurt like hell."_

"_Keith, I had no choice in moving on. Besides, most of the time, I was in pain or injured. If this is how it's going to be on missions, then maybe I'm not cut out to be a Top Ranger or a Ranger at all."_ I wiped away the tears from my eyes.

Keith took my hands and looked me straight in the eyes, _"Kate, you were meant to be a Ranger, and good one at that! Don't doubt yourself on your first mission, you have tons of time to improve, not that you need any of course." _I laughed.

"_If you say so, by the way, what were those grunts saying about me?"_ Keith's face turned bright red.

"_Do you really want to know?"_ I nodded excitedly.

"_Well, they were saying how you 'rocked those jeans' and some other stuff I can't repeat so that I won't punch a wall because no one talks about my Alley Cat Like that."_ My face turned bright red.

Then I realized something,_ "Since when am I your Alley Cat?"_

He slapped his forehead, _"I'm not even going to try and explain."_ I giggled a bit.

"_So what was up with you staring that fight back there? I thought ladies never started fights?"_ I smirked at him.

"_That's true, but who said I was a lady?"_ Keith fell off the bed he was laughing so hard.

The Prof. Hastings came into the room with a solemn look on his face, _"Kate, there's something I need to tell you."_

**A.N. Mwahahaha what do y'all think about the cliffhanger? It's not quite up to Rick Riordan's standards, but I think it's pretty good. I hope y'all enjoy and I don't own Pokémon or the Frozen moment whatsoever!**


	20. Jack Frost Makes Himself Known to Me

**Jack Frost Makes Himself Known to Me**

Kate's POV

I followed the professor back to the research room. I saw a bunch of machines with flashing lights that kicked on my ADOS (attention deficit ooh shiny). I was led to the back of the room where I saw my hearing aid dismantled and in some fancy chamber being studied by Vatona, Nage's brother.

"_So I take it that I'm not getting my hearing aid back for some time?"_ He nodded.

"_Yes, but that's not why I brought you down here. Since your hearing aid can pick up the signals and due to the fiasco back in the ruins, we came to a decision. We are sending you to Shiver Camp so that way you won't have to deal with as many Miniremos as you do here."_ I was about to argue, but thought better of it.

I left the room and headed for my own. I saw that Keith wasn't there as was his stuff, at the moment I just thought that he had actually cleaned up for once. I packed all my stuff in a duffel bag and headed downstairs. I didn't feel the need to say goodbye since I had a feeling that I would be back. I walked out to the hitching post and untied my Rapidash. I pulled up the navigation map for Shiver Camp.

I was about to start him up when I saw Sven running my way. He had something in his hand, a new hearing aid! Sven placed it in my palm and wished me good luck. I put the contraption in my ear and for the first time today, I could hear! I thanked Sven profusely as I rode off for Shiver Camp.

I had Rapidash carefully scale the mountain over the cave that led to Shiver Camp, Rapidash hates cave, not that I blame him. We were scaling the mountain just fine until Rapidash slipped on a rock. We tumbled down the mountain a bit until I regained control, I was used to accidents like this on Sekra Range. Then it hit me, I haven't been home since Christmas and Jamie's birthday was tomorrow! I had to configure her gift and fast. I headed down the mountain side to see a snowy tundra. I pulled up the map to Shiver Camp and prayed that my world geography class stuck. I followed the map until I came upon a camp. I entered the largest building in hopes of finding someone in charge. A man in a blue winter suit came up to me.

"Hello, you must be Kate, I'm Pamur. I'm the head of the research team in p, Prof. Hastings told me all about you." I shook hands with Pamur.

"Everything about me or just my file?" He laughed nervously.

"Just the file I believe. Now, your cabin will be B-7. It is the cabin right across from here." A question popped into my mind.

"And for my Rapidash?"

"He'll sleep in your cabin, do you have any more questions?" I shook my head and left the cabin.

I approached my cabin and opened the door, I felt so out of place. I mean, I love Wintown, but the weather changes somewhat; here, it's an endless Winter Wonderland.

"Way to go, Rider," I mumbled, "You managed to get thrown out of the Union after your first mission."

"Well I wouldn't say that." I whirled around to see Keith smirking stupidly.

"Why are you here, Fuzz Ball?"

"Hastings gave me orders to come here with you so you wouldn't be alone." I smiled.

"Of course he did, you mind telling the truth now?" He rubbed the back of his neck

"Okay, Erma wanted me to check out Almia castle for the Blue Gem. I'll fill you in on the way." I rolled me eyes and whistled for Rapidash.

We rode out to the Ice Lake where Keith captured an Empoleon and we took off. While we were ramming ice blocks, a piece of ice sliced my forehead. It threw me off, but I was fine. I listened as Keith filled me in on why we're capturing the gems.

"Wait, so we're going on this whole mission on the pretense of some mythical fairytale?"

"Pretty much." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Just making sure." We reached the castle about an hour later.

We came upon the front doors of the castle which were locked up tighter than a drum. I pulled out my two pocket knives and started picking the lock. It took me about 5 minutes before the doors gave way. We walked in, but immediately hid ourselves because we saw some of the grunts talking about thawing the ice blocking the next entrance.

Once we walked in, Keith grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a secret little alcove that was only big enough for 1 person. We were squished together very awkwardly until he put his arms around my waist 'because his arms were hurting.' Nonetheless, my face turned red at the action. We waited until they left before we got out of our hiding spot.

We stood away from each other awkwardly until we realized that the ice was blocking our only way out. I examined the ice and determined that ice was really breakable if you hit a certain point. I back away some feet and threw my knife like Ziva from NCIS. I hit the exact point and seconds later, the ice crumbled into little pieces.

We ran through the palace looking for the room with the gem. There was one room where the whole floor was ice, just straight up ice. I didn't realize this until I tried to walk normally and I slipped and skidded on my butt.

Keith laughed as he skated over to me, "Do you ever walk, Alley Cat?"

I smacked his shoulder, "Shut up, you dork."

He grabbed my hand and helped me skate to the other doorway. Of course, my clumsy butt can't handle being coordinated, holding on to a cute guy's hand, and trying to keep my face from getting really red at the same time. So I slipped again, but this time he caught me, and he pulled me up a little too fast and our foreheads bashed together.

"Ow, that kind of hurt." He laughed a bit.

"Yeah it di- who what happened to your forehead?!" I smiled nervously.

"I may have gotten hit with some ice back at the river." His expression changed faster than Jamie's attitude after a nap.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I laughed a bit.

"I sort of forgot about it." He just rolled his eyes and kissed the cut.

My face immediately turned red and my ability to form complete sentences was gone with the wind. I just stuttered out a thank you and we took off again. This next room is where I found out that Arceus has a sense of humor. Not only was the floor made of solid ice, it was breakable. I groaned and about 2 seconds later, a bunch of icicles fell down and one got a little too close for comfort. I jumped back and went into panic mode.

"What the hell is this?! I barely made it through the last room, how am I supposed to survive this crap?!" He just laughed.

"What the hell is so funny!?" He cackled manically now.

"It's just that you're really cute when you're panicking and mad." I ignored the fact that he called me cute.

And to just rub more salt in the wound, he picked me up bridal style and started skating on the ice. I pouted the whole way, including when he went to these other 2 rooms to capture 2 Riolus because he thought 'they were cool'.

Finally, we got to the grand room when Keith set me down. There was a guy in an entirely blue suit, including his hair. He turned around and tried to act all cool.

"So this is the all powerful Kate-noob? You really need to work on your image, hon."

My image? What was wrong with that? "Okay, what's your name, dork?"

He scoffed, "Ice, baby, I'm one of the Sinis Trio, we practically run Dim Sun. Plus, I can show you a way better time than your boyfriend, babe."

He tried to kiss me, but I punched him the jaw, "There's something you should know, Ice. Nobody calls me 'babe'."

He backed away from me, "Well that's too bad, you could've done so much better with me."

He whipped out his Miniremo and summoned his Froslass who froze my arms and legs to the wall. I watched helplessly as Keith captured the Froslass, I felt so useless. After 10 minutes, the capture was complete. Ice retreated while trying to maintain his shriveled dignity and Keith came over to me with his own pocket knife. I tried to ask him why but he cut me off.

"Rule number 9, remember? Always have a knife?" I smiled at the memory.

"You remembered that?" He nodded his head.

After about 5 minutes, I was free from the ice, although my hands looked bluer than Ice's whole outfit. I tried warming them up on my own, but then Keith grabbed my hands.

"You're not warming them up on your own so I decided to help." I was trying to hard to keep my face from turning red.

We were walking down this mysterious hallway when I saw the Blue Gem on a pedestal. I ran up to go grab it when a Lucario incepted and smacked away my hand which really hurts if they're nearly frozen.

I readied my styler for a capture which the Lucario engaged in. Lucario started off attacking, but his attacks were easy to capture around. I was about to complete the final capture loop when my hand started hurting a lot. I fought through the pain and completed the final loop. Although Lucario didn't leave after the capture; he stayed behind and trusted me with the Blue Gem. He ran to the top of the pedestal and hand-delivered the precious stone to me. I thanked him and walked back to Keith.

"Way to go, Alley Cat!" We then hugged for a really long time.

After about 3 minutes, we broke apart to see a glowing blue light at the start of the hall. We walked towards it and we were magically transported back to the front of the castle. Keith and I exited and took a Staraptor back to Shiver Camp. We walked to my cabin and agreed to stay here for the night since it was so late.

We walked in my cabin where I went to the bathroom to change back into my comfy pajamas. I came out to see Keith lounging on the couch watching some TV show while I made sure all my stuff was packed for going back tomorrow. It was then that I realized that there was only one bed and 2 of us.

"Keith, you want to take the bed while I crash on the couch?" He turned off the TV.

"No, you take the bed. It's your cabin anyway." I shook my head.

"Nonsense, you're my guest. You take the bed." This sparked an argument between us.

Finally I had enough, "How about we both just take the damn bed, okay?"

His face flushed a bright red hue, "Y-you're o-okay with that?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure, just stay on your side of the bed."

We both climb into bed and I turn off the lights and crash out. I wake up about the middle of the night because I was freezing cold! I didn't want to wake up Keith, so I just sat there trying to contain my shivering. All of the sudden Keith rolls over to my side and pulls me closer to him. I hear him mutter, "God damn Alley Cat, you're freezing!"

I didn't even try to resist him, I just accepted the fact that I was stuck there and thanked Mewtwo that he was wearing a shirt. I fell asleep in his arms and that was probably the only time that I was sound asleep and I was loving it.

**A.N. I'S SP FLUFFEHHHH! I had so much fun write each little moment one after another*cuteness squeal*! I know I missed the whole meeting thing about the gems and their powers, but I will be writing that in probably in the next chapter for those of y'all who haven't played the game. Disclaimer: I can solemnly swear that I don't own Pokémon. **


	21. Awkwardness Ensues

**Awkwardness Ensues**

Keith's POV

I woke up the next morning to see Alley Cat's head resting on my chest. She had a piece of my shirt clenched in her fist. My cheeks erupted into a red mess as I tried to come up for an excuse for this. I tried to fall back to sleep, but Alley Cat woke up before I could close my eyes.

She rubbed her eyes and then realized where she was. I saw Alley Cat's face explode in hues of red as she tried stuttering apologies.

"I'm s-sorry, I mean it wasn't bad but, I'm just going to shut up now." I laughed as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"How about we just forget about this, deal?" She shook my hand and tossed me the Blue Gem.

"Why did you give this to me? Aren't you coming with me?" Alley Cat shook her head.

"Prof. Hastings hasn't given me the order to come back, so I can't leave." I wasn't taking no for an answer.

"At the moment, I don't give a Rattatta's ass what Hastings says, you're coming back to the Union with me." She was to protest but I cut her off.

"You helped me get the gem, so you're coming with me to present it." Alley Cat agreed and we packed up her stuff.

About 5 minutes later, we were ready to leave. We both saddled up on her horse and took off for the mountain. We were scaling it carefully when she turned her head and asked me a question.

"So tell me why the Union is using a fairytale as the roadmap for this investigation?"

I answered, "Well, it started when Hastings was examining the signals that the Dark Shards sent out as a way to see what was happening with your hearing aid. Then Murph came close to the chamber and the blue pendant he wore started glowing. Nage saw that the Dark Shard's power reduced by a third."

"Alright, but I still don't understand the fairytale?"

"I was getting there. Anyways, Murph said he got the pendant from his father somewhere in Hia Valley. Then Erma remembered a fairytale her mother read to her as a child. She said it was about 3 princes; the prince cloaked in blue, the prince cloaked in red, and the prince cloaked in yellow. These princes argued day and night until their father banished each of them. The eldest, the prince in yellow, was banished to the desert, the prince in red was banished to the volcano, and the youngest, the prince in blue, was allowed to stay in the castle and become king. Although, the old king had so much darkness in his heart that it consumed him and spread throughout all of Almia. The three princes put their differences aside and willed their light to shine in order to defeat the darkened king." Alley Cat looked at me like I was insane.

"You remembered all of that?! But it still doesn't explain why this is the base of our investigation." I was at a loss too, but I gave her the reason that Erma gave me.

"This tale is the only logical connection between the Dark Shards power and the fact that we found the mythical gem." Alley Cat nodded her head and agreed with me.

We reached the Union about 15 minutes later, Alley Cat tied her Rapidash to the hitching post and we entered the building. We went to straight to the Research Room where we saw Hastings and the other researchers gathered around the Dark Shard.

"Ah, welcome back Keith I see you have the gem." He turned to Vatona, "Please tell the other researchers to set up the dais in front of the Tree of Harmony."

He ran out and grabbed a team of researchers, then Hastings turned his attention towards Alley Cat, "Kate, why are you back here?"

I saw panic in her eyes, "Sir, I helped Keith get the Blue Gem and we thought it would be best if we both presented it."

For the first time, Hastings looked weary and tired, "Kate, I sent you to Hia Valley to keep you safe."

Then Kate looked angry, "Sir, with all due respect, I couldn't possibly just stay there while all the other Rangers go on missions and make breakthroughs in this investigation. I understand that you're trying to protect me, but I became Ranger to protect people, the environment, and the Pokémon in this region and the world. I couldn't possibly do that while I'm exiled in Hia Valley."

Prof. Hastings looked like a grandfather who watching his little girl grow up, "Alright, you can come back to the Union. Now if you'll excuse me." He left the room with sadness in his steps.

I looked over at Alley Cat, "Keith, was I too harsh on him?"

I smiled as I put my hand on her shoulder, "No Alley Cat, it's just that he's known you since you were a little kid, he probably still sees that image of you in your spiky little pigtails. He's just having a hard time adjusting to seeing you as a Top Ranger going on dangerous missions so he's doing everything he can to keep you safe."

She quirked an eyebrow at me, "How do you know about this, Fuzz Ball?"

I smiled wistfully at the memory, "Because I've seen that look before in someone's eyes. C'mon, let's go up to the dais."

We exited the room and headed up to the 3rd floor. There was a dais that was connected through the Tree of Harmony. I stood next to Wendy while Kate stood by Sven.

"How was Hia Valley?" I looked over at Wendy.

"Pretty good, did the professor tell you that he stationed Kate in Hia Valley?" She nodded her head.

"None of us knew until Sven found out by overhearing the conversation between Hastings and Erma. Boy, was he raving mad! I thought he might punch another hole in our room." My eyes widened a lot as jealousy clouded my emotions.

"Keep your shirt on, Redhead. Sven loves Kate like a sister, in fact he promised her dad that he would watch out for her. Besides, this is the first time he's seen her in a year; I've never seen him so excited before." I got my emotions somewhat under control.

Before I could ask another question, Hastings started his presentation. He had me bring up the gem and place it on the dais. These fancy little blue lights flew from the gem and spread all throughout Almia. It was working at first, Miniremos were running out of power, but then more Gigaremos and Miniremos were taking over Pokémon as if the gem didn't do squat. This put the professor in one of his famous thinking modes which translated into patrolling until further notice.

I was about to grab Alley Cat when Sven came over to me, "How about we patrol, okay?"

I nodded, slightly disappointed that I couldn't patrol with Alley Cat, "Okay, let's go."

We ran out the building and straight for Peril Cliffs. We decided to knock off a bit and just climb to the top of the cliff. It took us about a half-hour to reach the top, we sat down on the edge of the cliff when I realize that this was not a true recreational visit.

"Keith, I have to ask you something; what's your relationship with Kate?" That made me think for a bit.

"We're best friends and partners." He quirked an eyebrow that showed that he didn't believe me, "Alright, I'll admit, I kind of have a crush on her."

He looked more satisfied with my answers, "Alright, I just want you to know that if you harm Kate in any way, not only will you have to deal with me, you'll have to deal with the whole family which isn't a pretty picture."

I gulped, "I wasn't thinking about dating her right now, or maybe at all since she may not like me back."

Sven rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say. I'm really scared for her, you know."

"Why is that? Kate is a perfectly capable Ranger." He chuckled.

"I know, but to me, Kate's always going to be that little girl that Elita helped out of the air vent." I laughed out loud.

"You now have my full attention." He smirked as he told me the story about his first day on the base.

"Alright, so there I was in Wintown, about to inducted into the base when all of the sudden, I hear a little girl's yelp from inside the air vent. Elita grabbed the ladder and unscrewed the vent and helped little Kate out. She had a nasty cut on her arm and Elita handed her off to me to bandage her up. The second I pulled out the hydrogen peroxide, she lost it. She started sobbing as if I killed her own family, so I had to sacrifice my man-card and go out and buy her a new teddy bear to hold onto while I poured the medicine on her. The process should've taken 2 minutes, we finished in 20." I was rolling on the ground laughing.

"How badly will Kate injure me if I told her the story?" Sven laughed and said.

"On a scale of 1-10, probably a 100." I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

We stayed like that, exchanging jokes and having some much-needed 'guy time' until about dinner time. Sven and I raced down the cliff and to the Union, he won, but I kept muttering how he was cheating. When Wendy and Kate asked us about patrol, we just said that we had some bonding time. They just rolled their eyes and went to their respective rooms, unknowing about the storied that Sven and I knew about them.

**A.N. I had so much fun writing this chapter because now, we see Kate from a different perspective and HASTINGS WAS A GRANDPA! Idk I just always had this vision of Hastings acting grandfatherly to Kate. I hope y'all love the chapter! Disclaimer: Pokémon, I do not own. **


	22. I Go Into the Heart of the Volcano

**I Go Into the Heart of the Volcano**

Kate's POV

I spent my patrol with Wendy, we went to Pueltown to make sure that any Dim Sun goons weren't hiding in any of the buildings. We walked around and exchanged embarrassing stories about Keith and Sven. When we got back to the Union, I suspected that Keith and Sven did the same thing we did because they acted suspicious around us.

I went into my room and just flopped on the floor, the tile was surprisingly comfortable. I fell asleep on the floor without a care in the world.

I woke up about 10 p.m. to hear Keith come in the room, "Alley Cat, did you really fall asleep on the floor?"

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, "Yeah, but considering the other bizarre places I've slept on, this is pretty low key."

Keith rolled his eyes and helped me up, "Well you slept through dinner, and luckily you have an amazing partner who saved you some chow."

My eyes brightened, "Food? You, sir, are awesome!"

He plopped down next to me and handed me a Tupperware container full of lasagna. I ate the meal without hesitation as Keith fell over laughing.

I threw the quickly-finished container at him, "What's so funny?"

"I just can't believe you slept through dinner. Who does that?" I shoved his shoulder playfully.

"You're a butt, you know that." He rolled his eyes as he picked up the container I threw at him.

He left to go clean it out while I changed into my pajamas. I was putting my hair into a side-braid when Keith came back.

"Hey, you're still awake! By the way, I ran into Erma, she says she needs you to meet with her tomorrow at 7:30." I groaned out loud.

"What's with all the early mornings around here?" Keith chuckled as he went to the bathroom.

He came out in a t-shirt and sweatpants, "You got to get used to it, Rider."

I stopped folding my uniform, "What did you call me?"

Keith shrugged, "Rider, is there something wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, just…stick with calling me Alley Cat. Everybody calls me Rider except for you and Ryth who call me Alley Cat, let's stick with that."

Keith rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say…"

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, I laid down in my bed and closed my eyes to welcome any dreams. I woke up about 2 a.m. and discovered that I couldn't go back to sleep. I blew some of my bangs out of my face as I carefully stepped outside only to see Ryth on the 3rd floor couch.

I gently shook her awake, "Mmm, Alley Cat?"

"Morning, Ryth. You okay?" She yawned and stretched out her arms.

"Yeah, I just fell asleep on the couch again." Again, how often has she done this?

"How many times do you sleep on the couch?"

"This is my 3rd time. Linda never throws me out, I'm just too tired to make it to our room." I looked over and saw Linda and Marcus also asleep on the couches.

I chuckled to myself and grabbed blankets for all 3 of them and proceeded to walk up to the Tree of Harmony. I reveled in the night air as I just started to dance around to imaginative music. Don't judge, we all do it at some point in time! Anyways, I was dancing around when Keith showed up.

"Nice moves, Alley Cat." I stopped abruptly and whirled around.

"Why are you up, Keith?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I woke up when I heard you leave." I instantly felt bad for waking him up.

"Oh, sorry about that." I was about to walk back down when he grabbed my arm gently.

"You okay?" I nodded my head.

"Really?" I nodded my head.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning." He left to go back to the room.

I stayed up there for about 10 more minutes, then I went back down to the 3rd floor where I proceeded to fall asleep on the floor. The floor was really comfy and I was really tired! Erma woke me up at 5 a.m. and that's when I felt super embarrassed.

"Morning, dearie. Did you sleep well on the floor?" I laughed a little bit.

"Yes ma'am, the tile wasn't too uncomfortable." She chuckled, and then went into serious mode.

"Now Kate, according to the legend, there should be a red and yellow gem left. You are going to go fetch the red gem from the Boyle Volcano." I saluted her and ran down to get my Rapidash when Keith stopped me.

"Since you're going to Boyle Volcano, why don't you take Zeal with you so that way you have a water-type with you?" I smiled at his kind deed.

"Sure, thanks Fuzz Ball." I took Zeal and gave Keith a hug before I started sprinting for Pueltown.

I captured a Staraptor and flew to Boyleland. I got about 10 minutes later and ran to the entrance next to the one where the secret harbor. That entrance was 'blocked' by a rusted gate that was held together by duct tape, I just kicked the gate and it just fell apart. I ran inside and found that the whole thing was connected by lava. I saw that there was a Torkoal there and remembered how that can walk in lava. I captured the Pokémon and had it help me cross the river of fire with Zeal on my back.

Across the river, I saw a hole like the one in the Chroma Ruins. I saw a Driftblim floating around, I captured it and proceeded to float through the hole in the ceiling. In the next room, there were spouts of fire scattered throughout the room. I tried to safely maneuver through the spouts, but one flared up expectantly and singed a part of my arm and a piece of my sleeve burnt of as well. I involuntarily yelled out in pain as Zeal poured a gentle spray of water on the wound.

Shortly after, I saw a girl in a tight pink mini skirt with a matching halter top and knee-high boots. I saw some female admins with her and just being in front of them pissed me off.

"Look, ladies, we have a Ranger with us." I just wanted to choke the pink volunteer-slut.

"Hmm, not very pretty. Don't you worry, Lady Lavana, we'll take care of it." Wait, Lavana. This was the chick that Keith fought at the top of Fiore Temple!

The admins summoned some fire-type Pokémon, I didn't pay attention because I was too focused on how to try to not kill that chick. After I captured the Pokémon they sent out, Lavana threw a temper tantrum that made Jamie's look saintly.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU LOST?! SHE WAS SO EASY TO BEAT! UGH, I NEED BETTER ADMINS, I'LL DEAL WITH YOU MYSELF!" I chuckled as she threw out her Miniremo in an angry fit and summoned her Infernape.

I started off the capture by having Zeal try and trap Infernape in bubbles to stall him. Although, the trick didn't work for long because then the damn thing started shooting flamethrowers everywhere and one nicked me on my left side. I growled in pain as I finished the last few loops and saw the capture completed. Ooh, Lavana was pissed off about this.

"W-what? I l-lost, h-how could this-." I cut her off.

"Sorry hon, now why don't you be a good Barbie doll and get the hell out of this volcano." She and her admins scrambled out of the volcano while Zeal and I pressed on.

We made it through the unstable rock bridge and more fire spouts until we were in the room with the gem. I was about to just go grab it when lava started spewing and the fire spouts erupted to a greater height. Then I saw a Heatran appear from the lava and challenge me to a capture.

I engaged him and we began. He started off with a small flamethrower that I cold capture around, but then he made these lava spots in the most inconvenient places. I almost stepped in one as I tried to dodge his earthquakes. After what seemed like forever, I finally captured the beast.

He went up to the dais and literally roared the gem off the altar and into my hands. I thanked the legendary and walked over to where the light that Keith and I saw back at the castle, except this one was red. I stepped into the light, and magically, Zeal and I were at the entrance of the volcano.

I took the boat back to Pueltown where I saw Sven waiting for me, "Hey Rider, how was it?"

I angrily pointed to the singed pieces of my uniform, "You tell me! I am never going into a volcano again, even if Hastings and Erma order me to."

He put his hands up in surrender, "Whoa there, someone's a little pissed off."

I nodded and we commenced our walk back to the Union. I showed the gem to Hastings, then excused myself to my room where I could wrap up my 2 new burns. I went into the bathroom and wrapped my burns and decided that my claw marks on my chest were healed enough to be unwrapped. I took off the wrapping to see 2 thick bands of white running diagonally down my chest.

I redressed myself and ran to the Tree of Harmony to see what was going to happen. I got up there to see Keith putting the gem on the dais. The same thing happened this time, except little blue and red lights were flying from the tree. The professor excused himself to think about where the last gem would be which meant patrol for the rest of the Rangers.

Keith grabbed my wrist and led me out of the building, "What was that for, Keith?"

He raised an eyebrow, "I just wanted to patrol with you, is that an issue?"

I rolled my eyes, "What do you think, genius?"

We both laughed as we walked down Union Road, I kept staring at the clouds in deep thought until I almost ran into a tree.

"Watch where you're going, Alley Cat!" I smacked his shoulder playfully.

We resumed walking in silence until we reached a little lake in the middle of the road.

"What are you thinking about?"

Without looking up from the water, I said, "I was wondering why is a Tailow like a writing desk?"

He laughed as he fell back against the grass, "Alley Cat, out of all the things you can think about, this is what you choose?"

I fell back and laughed with him, "Pretty much."

We stayed like that for a while until I started thinking about my hearing, I only had about 2 weeks left! I sat up and looked into the lake.

Then I heard Keith get up and sit next to me, "Allay Cat, you okay?"

I bit my bottom lip and nodded, "Yeah…I'm fine."

He turned my body so that way I was facing him, "No you're not, now tell me the truth."

I looked away from him, "It's silly really, and I don't even know why I'm so upset about it."

He stood up, then pulled me up, "It's about your hearing isn't it?"

I nodded as we started walking to Altru Park, "Yeah, it's just scary that in 2 weeks, I won't hear a damn thing. How can I explain this to the Union, for all I know they could be putting the papers in to medically discharge me."

Keith pulled me into a tight hug, "You'll be fine, I know that when Vatona's not working, he and Murph are trying to build you a hearing aid that will defy this and-"

I cut him off, "I'm not scared about living in a silent world, I'm afraid that people are going to treat me differently because of my deafness."

We pulled away and started walking through Altru Park and into the Chroma Ruins, "Alley Cat, I'll try my hardest as will everyone else to make sure people don't hurt you. How about we go to Pueltown and pick up some ice cream?"

I giggled as we turned around and headed towards Pueltown. As we walked, I silently prayed that Keith would always stick by me, no matter what.

**A.N. I don't know about y'all, but I loved it when Kate tells off Lavana! For her first time as a Top Ranger, we get to see Kate's sassy side. I'm so pumped for New Years and I have a special surprise for y'all! Also, don't worry about the story ending soon, I have other twists and twirls for this story. All I'm going to say is that y'all will not expect what's to come. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the Alice in Wonderland reference. **


	23. Oil Fields, Wailords, and Dim Sun Oh My

**Oil Fields, Wailords, and Dim Sun; Oh My!**

Kate's POV

The next morning, I woke up to see Keith gone. I searched the cafeteria, Dream River, and the Tree of Harmony, but he was nowhere to be found.

I ran down to the 3rd floor, "Ryth, have you seen Keith today?"

She punched in the keys to track Keith's styler, "He's in Haruba Desert, probably going after the Yellow Gem."

I gave her a quick hug, "Thanks, Ryth! You're the best!"

She laughed, "I know, by the way, what you want for your birthday?"

I stopped and thought about it, "Maybe some paintbrushes or a coloring book."

She didn't even turn around to ask, "Disney, right?"

"Of course! Do I ever go for less?" We both laughed as I went to find Erma to see what I'd need to do today.

She told me that I just needed to patrol until they heard back from Keith. I was going to ask Wendy if she would patrol with me, but she was handling some underwater threat and Sven was investigating some oil field in the middle of nowhere. I was about to ask Ryth if she wanted to have a Girls Day, but she was probably busy being Keith's operator.

I was about out of ideas when it hit me! I called up Isaac from my styler, "Isaac, you on break?"

"In about 5 minutes, why?"

"I need to 'patrol' with someone and nobody's available. Please help me out, I might die from boredom!"

"Well logically speaking-." I cut him off.

"I'm dying from boredom and you're my only hope!"

"I can't, Kate. I'm doing field research and I can't make it."

"Ugh, fine. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Kate." I closed my voicemail function.

I walked to the hitching post and untied my Rapidash, I still need to think of a name for him. We cantered through Altru Park, Pueltown, and deep into the Vien Forest when I got a voicemail from Hastings.

"Kate, we need you to go help Sven in the Oil Fields. He called saying he needs backup and you're the only Ranger available. He'll meet you at the harbor in 3 minutes." I spurred my Rapidash.

"Roger that, sir. Rider out." I felt kind of awesome about saying "Rider out."

I was back in Pueltown about 2 minutes later. I saw Sven's speedboat coming into the harbor. When he docked, I rode Rapidash on board and met him at the steering wheel.

"So what's going on with the oil field?" I yelled over the wind.

"It's an abandoned Altru field. Wendy alerted me about it when she heard some grunts talking about transferring a captured Wailord to the field where it's apparently their secret hideout." He pulled his hat further down on his head.

I was tying my hair back with a spare piece of ribbon, "How could Altru not know about Dim Sun using their underwater field."

Sven throttled the boat to go faster, "That's what I'm afraid of; Dim Sun might have connections at Altru which could explain this and the Chroma Highlands."

I was about to say something when we pulled up to the field. We carefully made our way onto the field where we saw the Sinis Trio making their way into a helicopter.

"Tell the boss that everything is on schedule and that the Incredible Machine will be ready by the date of unveiling." That was Kincaid's voice, why the little-

"Good, Kincaid. If the good work keeps up, I'll promote you to the main building." That voice, it sounded familiar. After the helicopter took off, we ran to the elevator to take us below sea level. Once we got off the elevator, Sven tried going in through the most forward door where he was shoved out by 7 goons.

"Why you little sons of-!"

"Sven, yelling at the grunts will nit make them changer their minds." I chuckled as he calmed down.

"Yeah, but it certainly helps." I pointed out an electric floor trap.

"Look, if we can get across this, I'm sure that we'll find a Pokémon to help us."

"We might, but how are we going to get across, smart one?" I smirked deviously.

I grabbed some rope I found in the corner and tied to one of my knives. I threw the knife at the ceiling and prayed that it stuck. It stuck and I tested the rope for strength.

"Rider, you not seriously going to do this?" I laughed as I backed up for my swing.

"Sven, of course I am." Then I ran full speed for the rope and swung safely across the trap. Once I was across, I pulled my knife from the ceiling and went to find the generator. It was in the next room and it was poorly built, it only took one swing from a crowbar to break it and turn off the trap. I met Sven outside ad we commenced looking for a Pokémon that could help us.

We passed by a room that smelled like the Skuntank back in the Ruins. Sven and I ran past it and decided to split up. I searched nearly everywhere and defeated a couple grunts along the way. Then I got a voicemail from Sven telling me to meet him on the 3rd floor, first room on my right. I went there and saw that Sven had Isaac pinned up against the wall.

"Sven, what's going on here?" He dropped Isaac on the floor.

"This guy's behind the plans of the Incredible Machine." I helped Isaac up.

"Sven, this is Isaac, he's a friend of mine from the Ranger School. He's a researcher for Altru Inc." I turned to face Isaac, "Isaac, is this your field research?"

He nodded timidly, "Yeah, Mr. Kincaid wanted me to come here to work on the new Altru building. He said it would be best to escape from the stress of being in the big city."

I looked over at Sven, "Maybe we can take him back to the Union with us, he can maybe give us a lead on what they're doing."

Isaac's eyes widened, "You mean that I'll get to work with Prof. Hastings?! I'll go willingly!"

I smirked over at Sven, but then a grunt came in the room sputtering on how he'll save him. I calmly walked over to him and knocked him out with one punch.

"Rider, was that really necessary?" I shrugged.

"Do you want him telling his cronies that 2 Rangers are here?" He put his hands up in surrender as he chuckled.

"Kate, would it be okay if we say goodbye to Kincaid? He got me the job at Altru so I believe I owe him that much." I smiled.

"Of course, I also have some unfinished business with him, but we have to hurry. Sven, did you grab the blueprints?"

He held up the disc with a smile. We left the room and passed the Skuntank room, "This is my new perfume project I'm working on with a Skuntank."

My eyes brightened, "Could we use the Skuntank really quick?"

"Sure, I don't believe you even need to capture it, it's extremely docile." He unlocked the door and called out the Pokémon.

We had had it follow us and go through a ventilation shaft going into the room that the grunts threw Sven out of. I heard the cries of disgust and eventually most of the grunt fled the room, a few of them were passed out on the floor.

We jetted down to the bottom floor and made our way through a series of mazes until we landed into Kincaid's lair.

"Mr. Kincaid, I've decided that I'm quitting Altru in order to work for the Ranger Union." Kincaid turned around.

"Very well Isaac- Kate!? What is that monster doing here?" I snorted.

"Monster, I didn't know you hated yourself so?"

Kincaid started stuttering, "I-Isaac, you can't just leave. I gave you your chance of life here!"

I stepped in front of Isaac, "If he wants to leave, then he will. You, or anyone else in Dim Sun, can't stop him." I looked over to see Sven dealing with a couple of grunts who have kidnapped a Wailmer.

I saw Kincaid whip out his Miniremo and summon the Gligar and had it go straight for Isaac. I shoved him out of the way and took on the beast myself. I shot my capture disc at it and started off our capture. I kept drawing loops around it until it sent a Slash and sliced my shoulder. I winced and kept capturing until it was captured. Kincaid slammed a big, red button that opened a hatch that was an escape route to a mini sub. Then I saw the Wailmer fall down the hatch. Suddenly, there was something ramming the entire rig. We ran out through the quick escape and piled onto Sven's boat.

I looked over at Isaac who just looked sad and angry as he descended below deck. I went into the control room, "So do you think Isaac will be okay?"

He nodded, "In time, he'll probably get over it."

I yawned, "Okay, wake me up when we're at the Union."

I looked over at the clock, 12:40, "Oh and by the way, Rider?"

I snuggled further in the captain's chair, "Hmm?"

I could hear him smiling, "Happy Birthday, Rider."

I smiled as I felt Sven put a blanket over my huddled self. Happy birthday to me.

**A.N. Hey guys, Happy New Year! I know it's not midnight, but it's pretty close. I did some research and found out that Kate's birthday is Jan. 1****st****! So I'm wishing y'all a Happy New year and a Happy Birthday to our main character Kate. Also, I hope y'all enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland reference in the last chapter **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, but I'm wishing on stars that I will someday. **


	24. I Officially Hate Dim Sun

**I Officially Hate Dim Sun**

Kate's POV

We got back to the Union at about 1 a.m., I was riding Rapidash while Sven and his Luxray, Fang, took turns holding the reins and Isaac was walking a little bit behind us. I was still asleep by the time Sven had tied the horse to the hitching post.

"Rider, wake up. We're back at the Union…we have cake." My eyes shot open.

"Cake? Like the actual 'diabetes on a plate' cake?" He nodded while smiling.

I didn't even wait up for him, I just ran inside and headed up for the cafeteria. When I got there, I saw no cake in the cafeteria.

"You liar!" I whispered-yelled, "You said that they had cake!"

He chuckled quietly, "I never said we had it now, all I said was that we have it."

I growled a good night as I went into my room. I quietly changed and dressed my shoulder wound as I tried to swallow the fact that it was my birthday. I was officially 17 now, which means I can do all the same stuff I've been doing while I was 16. I quietly exited the bathroom, but the bedpost had other ideas. As I tried to quietly get into bed, I hit my knee on the metallic bedpost which of course made some noise. Well, my muffled yelling probably helped too, but for now, I'm blaming the bed.

I heard Keith wake up, "Alley Cat? Is that you?"

I laughed at his sleep-filled voice, "Yes it's me. Wait, aren't you supposed to be in Haruba?"

He sat up, "Hastings sent me back, but I'm going back tomorrow morning."

I quirked an eyebrow, "Do you know why?"

He shook his head "Nope. Now how about you tell me why you're just now coming back to the Union."

I smiled as I walked over to his bed and sat down, "I was helping Sven investigate one of Altru's oil fields where there was Dim Sun activity."

"So what all happened there?"

"We found Isaac and took him with us, got the Incredible Machine's blueprints, and I got sliced on the shoulder by Kincaid's Gligar, who I captured soon after."

For a moment, I honestly thought that Keith was going to punch a hole in the wall. "That son of a-!"

"Slow down there, Hulk. Cursing out Kincaid will not help out the situation. Ow how about we go to sleep so you'll be well rested tomorrow." I started to make my way to my own bed when Keith grabbed my arm.

"Keith, what's wrong?" He didn't say anything as he pulled me into a tight hug.

"I may not see you later this morning, so I want to get my goodbye hug now." I was positive that my face was bright red.

We broke apart about 3 minutes later and I actually managed to say see you later without stuttering like Porky Pig. I buried myself in my covers and drifted away in peaceful sleep.

The next morning, I saw that Keith had left. I quickly showered and dressed and was in the cafeteria by 7:45. I saw a fairly big chocolate cake with chocolate icing in the middle of the largest table, but there was no one around. I stealthily made my way over to the cake to swipe a slice, but everybody popped out of their hiding places and yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!" I nearly jumped 11 feet in the air from the surprise.

"Arceus, you guys scared the crap out of me!" Everybody laughed.

"We saw you try to sneak a piece, Alley Cat." I laughed as Ryth 'scolded' me.

After some jokes and bits of humor, Sven decided to cut the cake. We were all having fun and joking around when Linda came running in, "Chairperson Erma, we have a huge problem!"

We all stopped what we were doing and ran up to the 3rd floor to see the monitor. Linda pulled up Keith's styler, "You see, he went to challenge the guardian, but his styler died so I assume he recharged it because his signal came back on. Although, he never went back inside, and as you can see, his signal is staying put. I'm afraid that-."

My styler screen started flashing, I plugged it in to the screen that we could all hear what he was saying, but he would only see me, "Rider, is that you? This is He-Keith, yes I am Keith, and I had something important happen. I need you to come and finish mash-up for me. You good friend, yes?"

"Yes?" This guy definitely didn't sound like Keith at all.

"Good, then you come and get Yellow Gem for me." I hung up and looked at the others.

"I'm going out there." Prof. Hastings grabbed my arm.

"Absolutely not, Keith might be kidnapped by-."

"Professor, it's no mistake that Dim Sun kidnapped him. We have to get him back soon, we don't know what these guys are capable of and frankly, I don't want to find out through Keith." It took all my self-control to not cry.

Hastings was about to say something when Wendy stepped in, "Sir, I believe that Rider should go. If Keith is being showed their capability, then Rider might be the only one he'll trust at that point. I'll go with her, but I'll keep an eye on things from the sky and will serve as medical transport if needed."

We all looked to the professor who gave a solemn nod. Wendy and I took off with Sven at our heels.

He shouted as we ran, "Flyer, I'll take Rider there myself. We'll meet you at the temple."

We both nodded and I untied Rapidash from the hitching post and we rode off towards the harbor. We hopped onto his boat and Sven slammed down the throttle. We sped to Haruba while I prayed for his safety. We landed at the docks about 10 minutes later and we rode Rapidash towards the village.

Sven got off at Haruba Village, "I'll stay here and make sure that nothing happens from this end."

I nodded and spurred Rapidash to go full-speed towards the Hippowdon Temple.

"Wendy, I'm headed towards the temple; I'll let you know when I'm on the other side. Let me know if you see anything."

"Roger that, be as safe as you can, Rider. I don't want to be medical transport for more than one person." I closed the voicemail function and jumped over the gap that was blocking me from the temple.

I stayed on Rapidash as we make our way through the inner-workings of the temple. There was this one part where we had to fall down a deep hole to get to the heart of the temple; I ordered Rapidash to execute a constant Flamethrower as we fell so that it wouldn't hurt him when we landed.

Once we landed, we looked around to see another building on a bridge that was crossing a river. I got off of Rapidash and ordered him to stay outside and keep watch. I carefully stepped inside of the building where I saw the gem on the dais. I walked about half-way to it when a mysterious presence zoomed past me. I backed up a few steps to see a Cresselia staring me down, almost as if it was challenging me.

I fired my capture disc and began, it started out by shooting these purple, psychic balls at the capture line. Then it surrounded itself with more of the balls which made it even more difficult to capture, but I managed. Eventually, I captured the wee devil and it willingly gave me the gem.

I went outside and voice mailed Wendy, "Do you see any sign of them?"

"Sadly no, but your Rapidash was spooked a little after you went inside. He ran around to the back as if he found something, but he came back with his fur soaked. I assume that he just fell into the river." But he never falls into rivers, it must be.

"Wendy, I think they're here. Keep a vigilant eye for anything, I'll be right back." I closed the voicemail and boarded my Rapidash and steered him to the back.

I saw a small bit of a Floatzel tail, but they're not indigenous here. Then it must be..?

"Zeal, come here. Buddy." I saw him stick his head out from the river, "That's right, remember? It's me, Alley Cat; I won't hurt you. Come here, we're going to find Keith okay?"

Zeal came propelling out of the water and into my lap. I saw some scratches and bruises on him of which I tended to with the gentlest care. I made my way back to the center of the bridge when Sven and Wendy both voice mailed me.

"Rider, there's a helicopter headed straight for the temple. It has the Dim Sun logo on it."

"Sven's right, I see it too. ETA; 3 minutes." I started to panic a bit.

"I-I'm on it. Wendy, be prepared to make an emergency escape for Keith. Sven, I want you to bring you boat as close as you can to the temple in case I need to jet out of here. Most of all, treat this as a hostage situation; don't come too close or they might run away and take Keith with them."

"Roger that, Flyer out." I saw Wendy disappear into the clouds.

"I'm on it, and Rider, don't do anything I wouldn't do." I smiled as he exited the voice mail.

I turned to Zeal, "I want you to hide out in the river, okay? I don't want you to get hurt." He nodded and dove under the water.

I turned to my Rapidash, "Boy, this is going to be one of the toughest situations we've ever been in. We need to be strong and brave okay?" He nickered and nodded.

I saddled up again and tried to muster up all the courage. I attempted to look brave and composed as the helicopter landed in front of me. I saw the door opening and I almost sobbed. I saw Keith bound in ropes and beaten to a pulp. I saw cuts and bruises everywhere and this overweight man bound in yellow armor of some sort that jumped from the copter.

"Aha, it is I Heath, not Keith. I made good impression though, right?" I rolled my eyes.

"If I am to be true, no. Your impression was all too simple, I knew right away you had kidnapped Keith." This got Heath steamed.

"How you figure it out?" I laughed boastfully.

"I could not put my thought process into such simple words that you could understand." He walked over to my Rapidash.

"Careful, you touch him and I'll make sure you don't leave here with a large burn on your posterior."

Heath backed away some, "I sorry for angering you. How about we make trade, huh?"

"Go on," He walked back to the helicopter and stood by Keith, just seeing him like that made tears build up in my eyes.

"You give me Yellow Gem." I scoffed and rolled my tearful eyes.

"And why, pray tell, would I do such a dastardly thing?" He forcefully pulled Keith down and held him in a headlock.

"I'm fair, you give me gem for blue-faced Keith. Better hurry now, I not patient."

I heard Keith breathe out, "Don't do it, Kate. I'll be fine."

Tears made their way down my cheeks, "Fine… I'll do it."

He let go of Keith, "Very good, you good friend, Kate. Too good."

I spurred my horse to go towards him, "Nu-uh, you give me gem in person, not on horse."

I got off of Rapidash and walked over to him, "Just take the damn stone."

"Not before this." He seized me by the neck and proceeded to try and squeeze the life out of me.

I kicked him in the face back flipped away from him. He lumbered after me, but I dodged and ran to Keith. He landed a punch in my stomach that knocked the breath out of me. I saw Heath grab the gem and Keith and run back to the helicopter. I voice mailed Wendy, "The helicopter has the gem and Keith. I repeat, the copter has the gem and Keith!"

"I'm on it, those scumbags won't get away." Her voice sounded extra angry.

"Wendy, Keith is top priority. Don't worry about the gem." My voice was raspy from the punches.

"But Kate-?"

"Just do it, Flyer. I'll tell Hastings and Erma that I made the call." She relented and went after the copter.

I saw there and sobbed as Zeal and Rapidash come over, "I'm so sorry, Zeal. I failed you, you trusted me, but I failed you."

I used the reins of Rapidash to pull myself up and onto him. Zeal Hopped into my lap and we slowly left the temple through another one of those transport lights. I met Sven by the docks with a solemn expression.

"Keith's in the copter, Wendy's chasing it." Sven didn't say anything, he just gave me a hug.

"You did everything you could," he whispered in my ear, "You did all that you could."

I pulled away, "But it wasn't enough, don't you see it! It wasn't enough."

Sven put me and the other Pokémon aboard the boat and tracked Wendy's styler on the GPS. I went below deck to give myself time to think about all that's happened. My thinking time turned into nap time. I didn't have a dream, I just saw darkness until Wendy woke me up.

Wait, Wendy? I shot up out of bed, "What happened?!"

I saw her go to the bathroom to wash the blood off her hands, she saw my expression and said, "It's not mine, hon."

If it's not her's and it's not Sven's, then it must be! "I got Keith back, in fact, we're back at the Union."

I looked around me, it was the Commons Area on the 2nd floor and I was asleep on the couch.

"But why is there…?" She smiled.

"I helped the doctors out by cutting off the ropes, they were covered in blood and some got on my hands." Tears were freely flowing down my face.

She hugged me and showed me to his room, "He might be asleep, just to let you know."

I thanked Wendy as she left the room and closed the door. I walked over to his bedside, "I'm so sorry, Keith. I should've acted quicker, not have taken those punches, I should've grabbed you quicker, and I should've…Ah what good is this, wallowing in self-pity. You'd say 'What happened to the real Alley Cat?' Please recover soon, for me. Well, I'm off to report to Hastings and Erma what happened. Goodbye, Fuzz Ball."

I left the room and went up to the 3rd floor where Hastings and Erma were waiting for me.

Erma greeted me with a tight smile, "I know today has been very stressful day for you, but please tell us what happened."

I took a deep breath, "It was supposed to be a simple mission, get the gem and Keith. I had Wendy up above to be medical transport if Keith needed it and Sven was in Haruba Village in case I needed backup or needed to get out of there. But things got messy and Dim Sun had Keith and the only way to get him back was to trade the gem for him. But being the cheats they were, they beat me around like a worthless punching bag and took the gem and Keith. Wendy got Keith back, but not the gem."

Erma came over to me, "I'm sorry this all happened, and on your birthday, a day for you to rejoice and yet you mourn."

"It's fine, ma'am." She looked at me sadly and Prof. Hastings led me to the Research Room.

"Kate, I want you to know that you made the right call back there. You never leave a Ranger behind, dear." I nodded.

"Sir, if I may, why did you ask Keith to return yesterday if you were to only send him back today?" He looked at me surprised.

"I sent no such order, I'll have to look into this at once! Be a dear and go check up on Keith." I nodded and left the room.

I changed into my pajamas before I went into Keith's room where he was wide-awake.

"Alley Cat! Thank Arceus you're here!" I couldn't help it, tears were coming down my cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey; why are you crying?" I sat beside him on his bed.

"Keith, I almost lost you today! I nearly failed you, and everyone here at the Union! I almost lost…" He shushed me gently.

"Alley Cat, you didn't fail me or anybody. You could never fail me, Alley Cat. You never have and never will." I laughed a bit.

"Shouldn't be me comforting you instead of the other way around?" He laughed as well.

"We're very backwards people, Alley Cat. Besides, it's your birthday and I got you something." He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a small box with a bow on it.

"Oh Keith, you didn't have to get me anything, especially after the current events." He gently shoved the box into my hands.

"Go on, open it!" I pulled off the bow and opened the box to reveal a beautiful oval-shaped silver locket with a small sapphire stone in the middle I opened the locket to see the picture of the 2 of us by Dream River during our first patrol.

I tackled Keith gently and hugged the daylights out of him, "Thank you so much, Keith! I absolutely love it!"

He laughed gently as he clasped the necklace behind my neck, "I'm glad you do, Alley Cat."

"Where did you get it?" He blushed a bit.

"Fall City, Joel said you'd seen it in a jewelry store before you left." My face lit up in red.

"Thank you so much, Keith!" I looked over at the clock 11:39, "I better go to bed."

I was about to leave when he grabbed my hand, "Please stay, I've been alone for most of the day."

I nodded and sat back in the chair and held his hand as he fell back asleep. I decided not to tell him about the order yet, that could wait until another day.

**A.N. Whew, talk about DRAMA! Who sent the false order? Was it Dim Dun or a case of faulty memory? You'll find out soon! Also, don't forget to review, guys! Disclaimer: I don't on Pokemon, but I'm still wishing!**


	25. Of False Records and Blueprints

**Of False Records and Blueprints**

Keith's POV

I woke up about 3 a.m. with a pounding heart, I had a nightmare about what happened on the helicopter. The grunts were beating me senseless as Heath voice mailed Alley Cat impersonating me. They had interrogated me on any of Kate's nicknames, secrets, and weakness. Though they kept assaulting me, I lied to them about everything, hell, I told them that I called Kate "Rider."

Still, in my dream, I saw myself telling the entire truth about Alley Cat. I tried to stop myself, but I just couldn't! Then I saw them bring in Alley Cat who looked the same, if not worse, as me. The ropes were cutting into her skin, bruises and cuts decorated her skin, and her face looked gaunt and thin. I saw Heath seize her small neck into his hands and slowly squeezed the life out of her and throw her body out of the copter.

That's when I woke up to see Alley Cat slumped over in the chair. I breathed a sigh of relief as I ran my fingers through her hair. She was here and she was safe, now I fully understood why Hastings sent her to Hia Valley.

I remembered when I first saw that look, I was in Wintown when Jake, her father, was working on the old truck they had back by the stables while he was talking to Spenser, "Yeah, it's true, I read the paper."

"No, I am excited…it's just…" He glared at the truck.

"I know I'm being over-protective, but that's my role and to me, Kate'll always be my little girl." I left after that, but I never forgot that look in his eyes.

I heard Kate wake up some 15 minutes later, "Mmm, what time is it?"

I chuckled at her, "About 3:20ish. You can go back to sleep."

She yawned, "Alright, but why are you up?"

"I had a freaky dream, nothing to worry about." She raised her eyebrow.

"Bullshit, tell me what happened." I waved off her concern.

"I don't want to talk about it, anyway, how long do you thing I'll be in recovery?"

She grabbed the doctor's clipboard and looked over the notes, "It says here it should only be a few days since it was mainly your arm and not of your legs, thank Arceus."

I laughed, "Well that's good, does it say how many days exactly?"

She shook her head, "It just says a couple days, but it does say that you can't leave the building until it's healed."

I flopped back, "Great, so I'm on bed rest for a couple days."

She laughed at my sarcasm, "One time I was ordered bed rest for 2 weeks."

I laughed, "Of course you were, Alley Cat." I fell back on my pillow and closed my eyes.

I felt something warm on my forehead, I looked up to see Alley Cat leave with a smile on her face. I fell back asleep and tried to catch some rest before the physical therapy took place.

Kate's POV

I left the room after I had kissed Keith on the forehead and headed to the 3rd floor. I had Keith's styler and I set about tracking where that last voicemail came from. I tracked the call all the way back to Summerland where I hit a dead end. I growled lowly as I tried tracking the voicemail again. I saw something as I was about to hit another dead end, I couldn't decode it, but I knew someone who could.

I ran down the stairs and into Isaac's room, "Isaac, I need your help."

He still lay asleep, "Isaac, wake up!"

My shouting made him fall out of bed, "What do you need, Kate?"

"I need your help with tracking the last voicemail that Hastings sent Keith."

He grumpily looked at me, "You just answered your own question."

I smacked his shoulder, "It wasn't Hastings, someone else sent him that order to make it look like Hastings."

"Alright, let's go." We raced up to the 3rd floor.

"Kate, your computer tracing skills are admirable for someone of your stature." I smiled.

"Thank you, Isaac. Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" He laughed.

"It means that I just solved your little mystery. This voicemail was sent from…" He typed in some more codes, "I can't believe it…"

I panicked, "What is it?"

He looked desperate, "Someone at Altru sent this, I can't tell who, but I know it was sent by someone on the Board of the Trustees."

I started pacing, "So it was originally sent from Altru, along with the abandoned oil field, and with them harvesting Dark Shards from the Highlands, the start of Altru, I'm afraid of the conclusion."

Isaac looked puzzled, "What do you mean, Kate?"

I turned back to him, "What else could it mean, Isaac! Altru and Dim Sun are in a deep partnership! This means that they now have to power to actually carry on their plans!"

Isaac dragged me down to the Research Room, "Isaac, what are you doing?"

He flashed a smile, "Delivering Prof. Hastings a thank-you present by unlocking the blueprints on the disc."

"The password's 'Melody' isn't it?" He looked surprised and nodded.

"How did you know?" I smiled.

"I could see it that you value her more than the entire world. When you value someone like that, you become their guardian while they become their weakness." He looked back with tear-filled eyes.

"I have a sister to, Isaac. Five years-old and one of the cutest devils you'll ever see." He finally cracked the codes and left a note to Hastings.

"I'll see you later, Kate. I'm going to try to get some sleep before breakfast." He left the room.

I walked up to the Tree of Harmony and called my father, "Kate, are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"Yes Dad, in the past week I have been beaten up, deceived, and had discovered leads that I never wanted to know!" I wiped away tears from my eyes.

"Sweetie, I know you're afraid and I am too. But you have to be-."

"Dad, everybody here expects me to be brave! Hastings, Erma, and everyone else wants me to be brave! I don't want to be a hero, Dad, I just wanted to be a silent helper, someone who worked in the background!" I could hear the tears coming down his cheeks.

"Rider, when I first saw you treat that wild Ponyta when you were 8, I knew you were going to be a hero. You kept going back, burn after burn after burn until that Ponyta was healed. I remember how he stuck by your side and helped you through so many endeavors. Kate, you were born to be a hero, and I was born to always be proud of you." I smiled through my tears.

"Thank you, Daddy. I miss you."

"I miss you too, sweetheart. Be the best you can be!" With that, he hung up the phone.

I stayed awake and by the tree until Hastings came up, "Kate, we found out who sent the voicemail."

"I know, sir. It was someone higher-up in Altru, most likely one of the Sinis Trio or the commander."

"Ah, I see that you have worked through the night, my dear. Not even I have that work ethic." I laughed a bit.

"Kate, I want you to do something for me today." I urged him to go on.

"I want you to stay away from Altru, we can't give them any room to think that we know about their plans." I agreed with him.

"So what do you want me to do today, sir?" He smiled.

"Just patrol, that's all dear." He left me at the tree.

I walked down the stairs and onto the 3rd floor where I saw Ryth still asleep on the couch. I smiled as I tucked the blanket around her. I never had wanted to be the hero, but fate never considers my wants and needs.

**A.N. Dun dun DUUUUNNNNN! We're getting closer to the end of the game, but not the story. Oh, I have lots of tricks up my sleeves that you'll rather enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. **


	26. The Opening Stages of Operation Brighton

**The Opening Stages of Operation Brighton**

Kate's POV

Over the next few days, the Union was busier than a Combee hive. Researchers were running around collecting data, Operators were pulling all-nighters one after another, and the Rangers were running around the region non-stop. However, 3 days later, Keith was running around right beside me.

"Man, does it feel good to be back!" I laughed as he put his arms behind his behind his head.

"It's good you're back, Fuzz Ball." He laughed as he hip-checked me.

I hip-checked him back and it started off a battle of us bumping hips until I fell into the bushes on Chroma. I laughed as he helped me up, but he pulled me up a little too hard and my head crashed into his chest.

"Oh my Mew, are you okay, Alley Cat?" I chuckled at his concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, Fuzz Ball. Thinks are a little fuzzy, but I'm alright." He pushed my hair off of my face as if he were checking for dents.

"Keith, I'm pretty sure my head can't be dented from it hitting your chest." We got a laugh as we continued down the road.

We were walking in comfortable silence when Keith got a voicemail from Hastings telling us to come back to the Union ASAP. We sprinted back to the Union and into the Presentation Room.

Once we were there, Hastings began, "My fellow Rangers, for almost a year, we've been battling Dim Sun. But now, we end this battle, with the help of our researcher Isaac, we've managed to see the blueprints for the Incredible Machine." He pulled up the blueprints on the floor monitor.

"Oh my!" I heard Wendy gasp.

"This is…" I finished Sven's statement.

"The new tower that Altru is building." We looked to the floor shocked.

He went on with his presentation, all I got was that the top of the tower was the main central point where the Shadow Crystal would be placed.

"Hold up, so this is just a giant Gigaremo?" Isaac laughed a little and nodded at my bluntness.

"Now that we have all of that squared away, we'll pick 2 Top Rangers to go in and decimate the Shadow Crystal's power with the 2 gems we have. These rangers have shown great skill and promise throughout this investigation. These brave and valiant Rangers are Sven and Wendy.

My heart soared and sunk a little, I kind of wanted to be in the action, but I knew that they were the right choices.

"Woohoo! I've been itching for a mission like this for a long time!" I smiled at Sven's behavior.

I hugged Sven goodbye, "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!" He smiled that I used the words he said to me back at Haruba. I hugged Wendy and told her to be safe.

"This coming from the girl who got injured eating pizza?" I lightly smacked her shoulder.

"Just be safer than I am on a daily basis." She smiled.

"Take care of the Union while we're gone!" I laughed as she and Sven took to the sky on their Rapidash.

Keith and I went up to the 3rd floor, "Why did we get the job of being housekeepers?"

I laughed and ruffled his hair, "Because we all can't go to gallivanting off to the main battle."

He pouted, "I don't see why not. I just want a chance to prove my bravery."

I chuckled slightly, "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble, it means you have the courage to do the right thing at the right time."

He was pouting less, "I still wish we could go out there."

I looked off towards the Incredible Machine, "Be careful what you wish for, Keith, it just might come true. C'mon, let's go see if Erma of Prof. Hastings want us to anything."

"Alley Cat, when do you lose your hearing?" I turned around to face him.

"Tomorrow, I believe. Why is that?" He was about to say something, but decided against it.

"I just wanted to know in case this mission is longer than one day." I went over and hugged him.

"Don't worry about me, let's focus on the matter at hand." All of the sudden I heard screaming.

We ran down the escalator, "Keith, go and protect Isaac, I'll see what's happening on the 1st floor!"

He ran off to Isaac while I bolted downstairs to see Heath, "Why the hell are you here?"

"I here to destroy Union. You not stop me this time!" He went for his Miniremo, but I beat him to it. I punched a big fat hole in the screen and made it blow up. I picked him up by the shirt and pinned him against the wall.

"Get out of here, dirt bag, and never come back." I dropped him on the ground and sprinted back upstairs where I saw a big hole in the wall.

"I'll never let you take Isaac!" I saw that Keith was protecting Isaac from Ice, I formulated a plan and put it into action.

"Ice, Ice, Ice; when will you learn that 'no' means 'no'?" He guffawed.

"As if, Scarface. I'm just here to get what's rightfully mine." I rolled my eyes.

"If you mean Isaac, then fat chance, Jacko!" I saw Isaac barely containing himself.

He was about to retort when Lavana joined to the party, "Ice, what's taking so long?"

"Well I apologize for trying to act like a gentleman." She rolled her eyes.

"That's what's wrong with you, you never play dirty, watch this." She whistled and some goons brought in Melody who was gagged and her hands were tied together. I saw tears streaming down her face and Isaac's too.

"You monster! Only a hag such as you would stoop so low!" I looked over at Keith, I was shocked by his outburst.

"Come on, Isaac," Lavana coaxed, "Better hurry or Melody might accidentally fall out of the building and break her pretty little neck."

I saw fear and rage in his eyes, "You fiend…I'll go, I'm sorry guys." We nodded understandingly as he, Melody, and Lavana boarded the helicopter."

Then Ice spoke up, "Well I don't see why I was needed here so I'll just…" He pulled out his Miniremo which I just ran over and kicked a hole in. Before he escaped, I had him pinned against the wall like Heath, "Listen you filthy bastard, I may not follow you back to Altru, but heed my words; if there is a bruise or even a small paper cut on Melody, there will be no realm, no barren region, no crevice where I can't find you!" I dropped him on the cold tile and ran up to the 3rd floor and grabbed Keith.

I saw that creepy Joker guy I saw when I went with Murph to Altru when Isaac bandaged up my arm. He had Erma and the other Operators cornered by a bunch of Bidoof.

"Really?" I condescended, "You're going to try and take over the Union with a bunch of Bidoof?" I saw Keith walking up behind him slowly.

"Well, they're the strongest Pokémon if you train them right." I cackled at the statement.

"Are you kidding me? The Test of Courage at the Ranger School was harder than this." He was steaming mad.

"Girl, you dare test the power and might of Bidoof?"

"I dare test, now bring it on, Creeper!" He sent the Bidoof my way, but I captured them all in a single loop. After the capture, Keith kicked the Miniremo away and thus destroyed it. Wheeler knew that he had be beaten so he decided to while while he was ahead.

Shortly after, Sven and Wendy voice mailed that barriers had been put up around the tower so it looked like someone would have to infiltrate from the inside to shut off the fields.

They hung up and Hastings was pacing around, "Yes, yes, but who do we send?"

Erma kindly smiled, "Have you forgotten that there are2 other Top Rangers here?"

"No of course not! It's just…they lack experience and Kate," He looked up into our eyes that were fierce with determination, "Kate's not my little girl anymore. Now I realize that you aren't rookies, you are Top Rangers and should be treated as such." He turned around to the monitors, "Top priority is Isaac's and Melody's safety, once that is achieved, you will go get the Yellow Gem. After that, Keith will take the gem and a Staraptor up to where Sven and Wendy are. From there, Kate will destroy the barriers from the inside. Kate, you have the most crucial part of the mission. We're all depending on you two. Let Operation Brighton Part 2 commence!"

Keith and I raced out of the building and grabbed my Rapidash while Keith grabbed Zeal from the river. We both got on and raced to the building, when we got there, the sky was already darkening and the fate of Almia was thrusted into our hands.

**A.N. Guuuuyyyyyyyssss, we're getting to the gooood part! Don't worry, this isn't the end of The Deaf Ranger, we still have a ways to go with all my surprises and such *evil laughter* I hope y'all enjoy! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I'm still wishing!**


	27. I Delve Into the Darkness

**I Delve Into the Darkness**

Kate's POV

Once we were at the building, we saw all the employees of Altru protesting outside. I did my best to clear a path and broke down the barricades. After we were inside, I was struggling to keep Rapidash under control.

"Easy boy, easy…easy." Finally, he calmed down some.

Keith pointed out that there was an elevator at the end of the room. We cantered over there and waited. That's when a couple of grunts decided to attack, they surrounded us and they were closing in.

Keith hopped down while I stayed on Rapidash, they kept summoning Pokémon with their Miniremos until they were out. After that, they decided it was a good idea to try and capture us by hand. Just when I was about to fry them, the entire Vientown base showed up!

"We'll take it from here, guys. You go ahead and go on up!" I thanked Crawford just before we got on the elevator.

Once inside, Rapidash was seriously flipping out! He was bucking everywhere and at one point, I thought it was going to hit Keith. I got off of Rapidash and forced eye contact with him and stayed like that for the rest of the ride.

"Alley Cat, what do you think Isaac's password is?"

Without hesitation, I said, "Melody, his sister's name."

He typed it in and we got to the about between the 9th and 10th floor when suddenly, the elevator stopped. The power went out, but Rapidash's mane provided the light we needed with his mane. Then a ladder dropped down, and a voice said, "You guys alright? I'm here to rescue you."

Keith and Zeal started climbing while Rapidash and I used Flamethrower to propel ourselves out of the elevator. We got up there to see a Dim Sun admin who's Miniremo I just kicked to the side and snarled, "I have nor the time or patience to deal with you."

He just stood aside like the coward he was and let us pass. We climbed through the rather large elevator shaft until we reached an air vent that was over a junk room. I kicked down a couple panels and we all jumped and slid. I saw Rapidash sliding on his hind legs, I looked over to Zeal and Keith who were still alive. When we reached the bottom, I saw a door that led to the 9th floor, but Isaac and Melody were on the 10th floor. I saw some grunts and ran to the nearest hiding place, a tight little alcove that was carved into the hallway.

Keith and I were once again in an awkward position, but I was too busy listening to notice.

"Yeah, the gems safe and secure in that room behind that high-tech gate over there." I smirked as they were unknowingly gave away their plans.

"Of course, hey, let's go to the old filing room and knock off for a few minutes." It was then that I realized our position, my body was practically pressed against his and his arms were around my wait and my face was buried in his chest. My face exploded in hues of red.

"I-I'm sorry, b-but it w-wasn't bad but…I'll just shut up now." Keith laughed at my inability to form complete sentences.

We got out of the alcove and headed straight for the gate. When we got there, I immediately set to work on destroying the gate. The gate had 4 lights that were activated if you got the certain key, but we didn't have the time to search the whole floor for 4 little keys. I broke the protective glass on all 4 and just started to do basic electrical engineering with my 2 pocket knives. I kept cutting wires and rerouting until all 4 lights glowed blue and it retreated back to the walls.

We ran into the room where there they were keeping the gem. It was on some sort of generator, one of the scientists ran over to us, "You're here to retrieve the gem?"

"Yes sir, and to rescue Prof. Isaac." He looked absolutely elated.

"Thank you so much! Jon take down the electrical guard for the staircase up to the 10th floor and I'll get the gem." He typed in some codes and grabbed the gem for us.

Keith and I thanked them as we ran up the staircase, "Alley Cat that was amazing! How did you do that?"

I laughed a little, "It's an age-old tradition called 'Winging It." He smiled at me.

We walked down the halls until we saw a door, I immediately set to picking the lock. I finished, but the door was too sturdy to break down. I had Keith voicemail Barlow to see if he could help us, meanwhile, I was eavesdropping through the door to see if I could some more information.

Barlow came up and was about to do his Target Clear when I stopped him, "Chief, how about we all do it so that way it goes down in one blow?"

"Alright, everybody ready?" We all nodded our heads.

"TARGET CLEEEEAAAAARRR!" We busted through the door.

I immediately went over to Isaac and Melody, "Kate, I'm so sorry. I did the reprogramming, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Isaac. You did what you had to in order to protect your sister." I stalked over to Lavana who was overseeing the operation.

Before I could do anything, she ran out of the room. Barlow rounded up the rest of the grunts and agreed to take Melody back to the Union.

Keith and I were about to leave when Isaac piped up, "I'm coming with you. This is my mess and I intend to clean it up."

Keith and I looked at each other and he said, "I don't see why not, but hurry." We ran through the building until we reached the elevators that led to the top of the building.

Keith looked over at the Staraptor, "Well, this is where I take off." I gave him the gem and a kiss on the cheek.

"Be safe up there, for me." He smiled and was about to take off when Lavana appeared out of the elevator.

Before I could do anything, she ordered, "Magmortar, take that nuisance out of the sky."

I ran over, but it was too late, Keith already was flying back at an alarming rate from the hit and crashed somewhere on the Vien Forest. Hot tears were coming down my face as she picked up the gem and hightailed it out of there.

"No," I sobbed, "It can't be, he's…" I couldn't bring myself to say it.

Anger filled my eyes as I tore away myself from the edge, "C'mon, Isaac, let's finish this."

We were about to leave when Hastings voice mailed me, "Kate, Vatona and Nage have been working on a special styler upgrade for you. It will allow you to capture Pokémon even under hypnosis. We're sending you the upgrade now." A few minutes later, my styler was programmed and updated, "From henceforth your styler will be called the Vantonage Styler, capable of capturing all Pokémon!"

"Thank you sir, one last thing. Keith was knocked out of the sky and the gem is reposed by Dim Sun, I will be taking it upon myself to get the gem and giving it to either Sven or Wendy." I heard him hang up, the news was probably too much for him.

We were walking through the halls when the whole building started shaking, "Isaac, what's happening?"

"This is what they had me reprogram, the Incredible Machine is on, but only the Pokémon in the building will be hypnotized. The power is designed to slowly creep up until it gains 100% at midnight, Altru's 75th birthday." I gained a look of determination.

"We can beat this but we have to hurry!" I gave one last mournful look to the Vien Forest.

Isaac and I raced through the halls on Rapidash, we reached the generator of the yellow field. It didn't take many gray cells to figure out that Heath probably would be in charge. I saw a big yellow ball that seemed to be the power-source of the field.

Isaac ran over, "This is protected by a computer security system, once I take it down, you can use a Target Clear as needed."

"Or I could just hit it with the pipe?" He laughed as he went to work.

I saw Heath come in, "Kate come challenge me again? I beat you harder than last time I see you."

I rolled my eyes, "The last time I saw you, I beat the shit out of you and your Miniremo."

He got really grumpy, "No more talk, now you battle Rhyperior!"

The humongous rock-type lumbered after me. I shot my capture disc and tried to get through to the Pokémon. It didn't work out so well because he kept shooting small rocks and causing earthquakes. I kept faith in the styler until the capture was finished and the Pokémon and I were both panting.

I looked over at Heath, "Strike 3, you're out." He ran out of the room like a scalded Meowth. I turned around to see Isaac grinning like a mad man, "I take it you're finished?"

He didn't say anything, he just handed me the pipe. I gladly took it and proceeded to crush the glass ball until it was in unsalvageable pieces. We speedily rode to the next level, "Kate, the boss of this level is Lavana. I should be able to hack her program pretty quickly and can be out of there in no time."

I shot a glance back at him, "And you're telling me this why?"

He smirked, "As much as I hate Lavana, I don't want the Union discharging you on accounts of manslaughter."

I laughed as we went inside, "Please, if I wanted to kill Lavana, I would've done so by now."

He ran straight for the computer while I stood watch. I saw Lavana come in and about to challenge me when I cut her off, "Listen up, bitch; you kidnap and harm my best friend's sister, you shove my other best friend off the tower and possibly killed him, and you just happened to do all those things in one day. I suggest you tell me where the gem is and leave before I beat the information out of you."

She laughed, "As if, you'd ever lay a finger on me."

Right when she finished that sentence I surged and pinned her against the wall by the collar of her shirt with my knife, "Listen up you hopeless hag, I've had a pretty bad day and it all traces back to you. I've tried to keep my temper, but you're making it so damn hard to do so. Want to see what happens when I lose it?"

She looked like a Stantler in headlights as she shook her head, "Good, now where is the gem?"

"It's with Ice. I never wanted to shove Keith off the building, but the boss ordered me to. I'm sorry if he dies." I searched her eyes for the truth, which she spoke.

I pulled out the knife, "Go and never come back, we clear?" She nodded as she ran off with her Magmortar.

"Kate, it's ready." I took the pipe from Isaac and bashed the ball in.

When we were about to go up to Ice's level, the floor rumbled again, "This is Altru Core Computer. Power is still at Level 1, power needed for Level 2 is…10%, I repeat 10%. There are no known ab-abnormalities."

My hearing aid started going on the fritz as we rode to the next level, "Isaac, after we beat Ice, I won't be able to hear at all. I need you to be my ears for me after that, okay?"

He solemnly nodded as we rode on. We reached Ice's level, but he was nowhere to be seen. Isaac set to work on his computer immediately, he looked over at me, and said, "This'll take a little longer, I guess Ice read up on some computer security books and modified his system."

"Alright, do what you can." I stood guard anticipating his arrival, which happened soon after.

"Katie, I know you're a huge fan but this is too much." I rolled my eyes.

"As if, Ice. This isn't a pleasantry visit, I need information and you have it. How about a wager; I capture the Pokémon you sic on me and you'll give me the information." He smirked.

"What about if you lose, dear?" I gagged internally at the word 'dear.'

"Oh, don't worry," I readied my styler for capture, "I won't."

Ice pulled out his Miniremo and summoned Gallade. I shot my disc and the bet began, automatically, the odds were in his favor. Gallades are super-fast and they have sword-like arms that make them difficult to capture, but I didn't lose faith. I had Rapidash encircle Gallade in flames so that he would stay put. With his help, I finished the capture and won the wager.

I looked expectantly at Ice, "I did my part of the bargain, now you do yours."

He huffed, "Fine, what do you need to know?"

I smiled, "Who's the boss of this organization?"

"Ooh, I can't say, hon. Next question."

I raised my eyebrows, "Where's the Yellow Gem?"

He tossed it to me with a grumpy look on his face, "Is that all?"

I smiled sweetly, "Yes." I turned back to Isaac, "Ready yet?"

Ice cackled, "You'll never hack that thing, I spent months reading about Computer Science and Technology. You'll never figure it out, Isaac."

I saw Isaac smile deviously, "Guess what, Ice. I just did."

Then Isaac surged forward and punched Ice in the jugular which knocked him out, "Way to go, Isaac! Remind me to call you for backup in case I get in a fight."

He smiled bashfully as he handed me the pipe, I destroyed the glass ball until it was powder. We rode to the next floor where the damn computer reminded us that it was now on Level 2 and it only took 50% of power to get to Level 3. Then my hearing aid went out and my world became silent. The next floor had 2 staircases that both led to the top where I assumed the boss lay in secret. The only thing blocking me from the stairs was an electric floor trap whose generator was in plain sight. Isaac went to go hack it in which he succeeded, but before he could get out, lines of electricity locked in behind him so he couldn't get out.

I was about to start pounding the gates when Isaac grabbed my hand and pointed upwards, indicating he wanted me to go up and worry about him later. I sent him one last smile as I saddled up on Rapidash and climbed the staircase to have the fight for the fate of all Almia.

**A.N. I know y'all hate me for leaving you with a cliffhanger, so I'll be nice and let y'all decide if I should upload another chapter at 2 a.m. or leave the suspense for tomorrow? The votes should be posted as reviews since I don't know how to set up polls. This poll will go until 11:30 Eastern Time. Thank y'all for sticking with me through this story, y'all are awesome and I love y'all! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon *sniffle***


	28. I Dive Into My Own Nightmare

**I Dive Into My Own Nightmare**

Kate's POV

I rode up the staircase, fear in my eyes and the weight of an entire country on my straightened shoulders. I cantered over to the 2 men in front of the crystal, the man in black turned around and I was shocked! It was President Blake Hall! He tried to give me one of his business card, but I set on fire with Rapidash's mane. He looked slightly offended as the Joker guy started yelling at me, but I just looked deadpanned at him.

I saw Hall wave off Joker, reading that he told him I couldn't hear even hear a bomb go off if I was right next to it. I was slightly upset, but tried to keep a lid on my emotions. I saw the Hall go over to the crystal and spin a disc. All of the sudden, a Dusknoir appeared through the crystal. I read his lips and saw him order the Pokémon to attack me. I shot my capture disc at it and captured it with limited difficulty.

When I looked into his eyes after the capture and saw anger with tinges of fear. He was rambling about something, probably about his ability to summon any Pokémon with the help of the crystal. While he was rambling, I saw a tiny flash of light come from the gem. This did not go unnoticed by Hall, I saw him ask me what the light was from. I smirked and showed him the Yellow Gem. He started cursing so loud that I could fell small vibrations through the floor. I saw Sven and Wendy descend a little and circle around the Shadow Crystal. I didn't have to be hearing to know that they wanted me to get the gem as close to the crystal as I could.

However, Hall had other ideas. I read his lips to see that apparently there was a power level beyond Level 3 called Level Dark. This got Joker freaking out and trying to persuade him not to do it. But I could see it in Hall's eyes that he wasn't turning back, he walked over to the disc and put the Incredible Machine on Level Dark. All of the sudden, the clouds grew darker and thicker, all of the energy monitors turned dark purple, and a dark hole appeared in the ground.

I didn't have to hear his speech to know that he summoned Darkrai, the Pokémon of nightmares and fears. I saw Darkrai come from the black hole and come towards me, I read Hall's lips and saw that he ordered Darkrai to send me into perpetual darkness, to live my most horrid nightmares. He opened a portal and started to pull me and Rapidash towards it. I got off of Rapidash and ordered him to make himself scarce, he refused to leave my side until I yelled the orders at him again. Even though I wasn't fully in the darkness, I still saw my fears. I saw Hall with Jamie in front of the crystal, she was tied up and bloodied. I looked to the left and right and saw all my friends and family like that. Then I saw Keith right in front of me, he was in the worst condition. He was screaming at me how I couldn't save them. Soon, everybody else started to repeat it like a broken record, I was going mad!

Just when I was about to be totally submerged, I felt someone grab my hand and pull me out. I opened my tearful eyes and saw Keith! I didn't say anything, I just hugged the living daylights out of him. He returned the hug and I gave him the Yellow Gem. He kissed me on the cheek for good luck and then dropped me off in the battlefield.

Boy, Hall was raving mad over me not being killed! He ordered Darkrai to do it again, but then the control disc broke. Darkrai's normally blue eyes turned a vengeful red, he created another portal, but this time it was directed towards Joker guy and Hall. He sucked them both in and then proceeded to go on a rampage. The already dark clouds got darker to the point where I couldn't see Sven, Wendy, or Keith! I whistled for my Rapidash and we only saw one logical way out, we had to capture the beast.

I readied my styler and shot the disc out, but after a few loops, I found out I wasn't getting through to him. I ended the capture and backed away to see the light, yes the actual light, of the three gems come down and infuse in my styler. It gave the styler an almost gave the styler a shimmering tint to it. I rode Rapidash back to battle and gave the Vantonage Styler a chance to prove its worth. I shot out my capture disc and was overjoyed to find out that I was getting through to Darkrai! I kept capturing loop after loop, but then he pulled down a portal of darkness that dropped burning bits of metal. I dodged those, but then he threw a Night Slash that cut my stomach and threw me off Rapidash. I finished the capture from the floor and finally brought Darkrai out of his rampage.

Keith, Sven, and Wendy flew down and placed the gems around the Shadow Crystal which turned it into the Luminescent Crystal. I smiled from ear to ear as Joker guy and Hall came back through the portal. I thought all was well until the building shook violently, I guess it was from the lack of power the Incredible Machine had and now the building would collapse on itself. It stopped, thank Arceus, but it loosened a lot of debris that fell on top of me. I put up my arms for protection and screamed for help until the debris hit me and everything went black.

Keith's POV

Sven, Wendy, and I were celebrating because now we had won the battle! We were flying around the building to let people down below know the great news, then the building started shaking. We flew out of the way until it stopped suddenly, I thought that it was over until I heard Alley Cat screaming.

Sven and I looked at each other and immediately dove for the source of the scream. We landed to see a pile of rubble where Alley Cat was. We started to pull the rocks and pipework away like crazy. Hot tears were falling down both of our faces as we came upon rocks with bloodstains on them.

I muttered, "Please be okay, please!"

I looked over to Sven chanting under his breath, "No, no, it can't be. No, she can't be…"

Finally we saw her body, she was barely breathing and her heart rate was slower than ever. Alley Cat had nasty gashes across her forehead, arms, and her stomach; her legs looked mangled and crushed beyond repair. I wanted to sob as I helped Sven situate her on my Staraptor and flew back to the Union. I looked down to see Sven guiding Rapidash off of the building. I got to the Union about 2 minutes later, I landed by the Tree of Harmony where I saw Wendy and a doctor set-up a make-shift sick bay. The doctor took Alley Cat to one of the tents while Wendy treated me for the scratches and cuts I had received when I landed on Lookout Ridge.

I saw Sven run up about 10 minutes later, "Where's Rider? Where is she?"

We pointed to the medical tent closest to the tree, there were only about 5 tents for serious injuries while the rest were just the regular little beds you see in any doctor's office. Once Wendy finished bandaging me, Sven came back.

Wendy went over to him at once and sat him down on the ground, "How is she?" She asked.

He sighed, "She's going to be in surgery for a couple hours. They're not even sure she's going to make it past the anesthetic." He just looked down at the ground.

It was all just too much for me, I went down to the 3rd floor where Hastings immediately ran up to me, "How's Kate? For the love of Arceus please tell me she's alive!"

I looked at the professor, "She's going to be in surgery for a couple of hours, sir." I decided to not tell him about how she might die, he was going to feel depressed already.

His expression was a mix of horror and shame, "I never should've let her go. I knew it was too risky for her!"

Chairperson Erma came over and carefully led Hastings away from me.

Then Ryth ran over to me, "Oh my Mew, thank Arceus you're alive Keith!" She looked around me to see if Alley Cat was hiding, "Where's Alley Cat?"

I led her to one of the couches, "Ryth…Alley Cat's going to be in surgery. When she finally captured Darkrai, the whole building shook from sudden loss of power. Some of the loose rubble fell on her since she couldn't get away in time."

She brought her hands to her mouth and sobbed. Isaac came over and took over the job of comforting Ryth. I looked up at the screen to see all the people in Altru Park listening to the Go Rock Quad play. I was sickened, they only knew what we had gained; they didn't know what we lost.

I walked back up to the Tree of Harmony, I looked to the sunrise. It must've been 3 a.m., but nobody was planning on going to sleep. I heard some noise behind me, I whirled around to see Spenser and Jake with red eyes. I heard their silent question and pointed to the tent where Alley Cat's surgery was taking place. They nodded their thanks and left, about a minute later, I felt someone tugging at the hem of my pants.

I looked down to see Jamie holding a teddy bear with Pachi on her shoulder. I sat down on the grass and she crawled into my lap.

"K-Keith, I'm scared. Daddy and Uncle Spenser and everyone else is crying. Why are they crying, Keith?! What happened to my big sister!?" She cried on my shoulder as I rocked her to sleep, I couldn't answer her questions if I didn't know myself.

I saw Sven come over and sit next to me, "How are you feeling, Keith?"

I sighed, "I feel like she's been cheated. She saved all of Almia and then this happens! I just wish it was me instead of her."

He chuckled a little bit, "You know, if it was like that, Rider would say the same thing."

I chuckled too and handed Jamie over to Sven, "Did they let you see Kate yet?"

He shook his head, "Still in surgery. But so far she's alive."

I smiled, "Yeah, at least she's alive."

We sat in silence for about an hour until Spenser came over with tears and a smile, "Guys, she out of surgery! She's still under anesthesia, but she's out of surgery."

We all smiled as we followed Spenser to her tent. We walked in to see her dad sitting in a chair and holding her hand. Sven handed him sleeping Jamie who just curled up in her father's lap. The whole tent was silent as we looked at Alley Cat's sleeping figure, then Prof. Hastings barged in.

He whispered, "I heard the news, but I wanted to see it for myself." He looked over at Alley Cat, "Oh my…she's made it. She actually made it!"

Sven and I decided to leave the room to give the family some time. I went back to my room to take a short nap before we started on repairs on the Union. I laid down on my bed and fell asleep like a bag of rocks. Finally, Alley Cat had some hope.

**A.N. OMG, I was crying as I typed this chapter! What a heart-wrencher! But, the story doesn't stop here, there's still more twist and turns for our brave heroes! Also, I know this chapter's a little short so I'll post another one around 10 p.m. to midnight. Don't forget to review, guys! Kate, take us out!**

**Kate: *still asleep***

**Me: Hehehe, sorry. Sven, you do the honors! *runs away from the reader's heated glares.**

**Sven: scubagirl13 doesn't own Pokemon or the characters except her OCs. **


	29. Surprises in the Medical Center

**Surprises in the Medical Center **

Keith's POV

A few weeks after Operation Brighton, we're finishing up the repairs to the Union. I was helping Sven repair the wall on the 2nd floor that was blown out, "Have you checked up on Kate recently?"

Sven shook his head, "Not today, but the last time I saw her, Jamie was taking a nap on her bed and she was joking around with her dad and Spenser."

I smiled, "That's good; do you know when she'll be at least able to come back from the tents on the roof?"

He shook his head, "Nope, I talked to the doc, but he says we'll have to wait until she gets some new piece of medical equipment. I'm assuming it's a new hearing aid or something."

I was puzzled, but decided not to ask questions. We finished up putting the dry wall back up and were starting to place back the tile. I tried my hardest not to think pessimistically about Alley Cat. It wouldn't do any good if I kept all these bad thoughts in my head, I shook my head as if that would clear the thoughts.

We finished gluing and grouting the yellow tiles in about an hour. Sven left to go get lunch with Wendy while I went up to Alley Cat's tent. I opened the flap and gingerly walked in, _"Hey, Alley Cat, how are you feeling?"_

She looked ecstatic to see me, _"Keith! Thank Mewtwo, I was about to rip the sheets out of boredom!"_

I laughed, _"I seem to remember someone gloating to me on how she was on bed rest for 2 weeks."_

She rolled her eyes at me, _"Yeah, but at least I could walk around a bit. Here, they throw a hissy fit when I'm getting up to use the bathroom!"_

I laughed at the mental image, _"How's your hearing doing?"_

She looked kind of grim, _"It's 80% gone. The doctor wants me to get a Cochlear Implant, it taps into your brain and lets you hear. But the procedure is really expensive. I know my dad would try to cover the cost somehow, but I need to recognize realities and look into other options,"_

I felt sorry for Alley Cat, here was a girl whose only obstacle that's separating her from her hearing is monetary issues, _"How long until you can ditch the tent?"_

She smiled, _"Once my new piece of equipment comes in, I can leave!"_

"_That's great!"_ I heard Wendy calling my name, _"I got to go; Wendy is calling my name. I'll come visit you later."_

She smiled and waved goodbye as I left the tent. I walked down to the 2nd floor where I saw Wendy filing away paperwork.

"Hey Keith, I was wondering if you could help Sven with the glass doors downstairs." I nodded and went down to the first floor to see Sven cursing out piece of glass.

"This #?*!$&% piece of glass! I'm going to break this piece of %#$*!" I was struggling to not to bust out laughing.

"You do realize that yelling at the glass won't make it work any better." He turned around and just smirked.

"Yeah, but it helps me." I rolled my eyes and helped hold up the glass pane that was going to be the new door.

I held up the door as Sven hammered the hinges in, "You know, for someone who has a rep for being even-tempered, you sure get mad when you want to."

He smirked and rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Keith."

I laughed as we put up the other door frame and tested it to see if it worked. After that, Sven took Wendy out to lunch while I went up to see if Chairperson Erma needed anything.

"Well, I have nothing I need you to do, but Kate asked me to send you up to her once I saw you." I followed her up to Alley Cat's tent and Erma walked back down to the 3rd floor.

I tapped on the tent flap and peered inside, _"Alley Cat, you in there? Erma said you wanted to see me."_

I heard some rustling from inside and then her head popped out, _"I'll be right out, but back away about 5 feet from the tent and close your eyes."_

I warily backed away and closed your eyes, _"Alright, here I come, Fuzz Ball."_

I heard her move outside and then she tapped my shoulder, giving me the signal to open my eyes.

I opened them to see Alley Cat standing in front of me with a prosthetic on her right leg from the knee down. That nasty gash on her forehead was now a thick, white scar and her torso was still wrapped up in bandages. In other words, she had never looked so beautiful to me. I ran towards her and hugged the living daylights out of her, this was the first time since Operation Brighton that I had been able to hug her. It felt nice until she broke away from me.

"_Well,"_ she twirled around as if she was trying on dresses, _"What do you think?"_

I smiled, _"I have never seen a person rock a prosthetic leg as much as you do."_

She blushed a deep red as she came over to me and hugged me again, _"I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life during the opp." _

I hugged Alley Cat again, _"You don't have to thank me, Alley Cat. I'll always save you, no matter what."_

She looked at me with a smile, _"Thank you. I got to go, the doc wants to run 1 more test before he clears me to go to back to our room."_

I waved goodbye to Alley Cat, as I walked back downstairs, I realized 1 major fact. I was hopelessly in love with my Alley Cat.

**A.N. I hope y'all love this new chapter as we find out Keith's big secret! New chapters will be updated tomorrow as we find out what will happen to Kate next! Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokemon.**


	30. A Secret That was Never Kept

**A Secret that was Never Kept**

Kate's POV

I walked back to my tent where I saw the doctor with the clipboard, _"Ready for your final test?"_

I nodded, I was eager to get it over with. He had me run laps around the tree, jump rope for 2 minutes, and stretch out to see if my fake knee could go as far as my real knee. After the testing, he signed off on a few papers and let me go.

I walked back to the 3rd floor to see Wendy come over and tackle me with a hug. I think she said something about how she missed me. I smiled nervously as she rambled on about something I couldn't understand. She kept talking until she realized I wasn't listening, she looked embarrassed as she stuttered apologies. I waved them off kindly, indicating that I wasn't offended.

I walked to my room and saw all my stuff exactly as I left it before, but there was a note on my nightstand, **"Dear Sissy, I don't what happened, but Daddy said that you kicked some butt! I can't wait to see you again! Love, Jamie"**

I saw a little drawing at the bottom of the page, it was of me in my uniform, but instead of my styler, I had a long sword. I laughed, Jamie was a violent little angel. I folded the letter and put inside my duffel bag. As I organized my shelf, I saw the door open and Keith came in, _"Hey, the prisoner is set free!"_

I laughed out loud,_ "It was only a matter of time. How are the repairs to the Union coming?"_

"_They're almost complete. Sven and I finished the glass doors this morning."_ I smiled a little as I fingered the locket.

Keith looked surprised, _"That survived the crash!?"_

"_Yeah, the doctors wanted to take it off during the surgery, but I didn't let them."_

He looked puzzled, _"Why? Aren't you supposed to follow the doctors' orders?"_

"_The last time I gave the doc something during surgery, they lost it and it took 3 weeks for me to get it back. Besides, I didn't want to take it off."_ I neatly organized my clothes in my duffel bag.

He left shortly after to go get food while I stayed behind. I was about to leave when I saw Ryth come up to me, _"Hey…what's up?"_

"_You're learning sign?!"_ She giggled and nodded.

"_I know…basic signs…I'm working on the memory, but I'm improving."_ I beamed as we hugged. Soon after, Isaac swept her away for a lunch date. I smiled when Isaac took her hand, it about damn time they got together.

The next few days were like a little slice of heaven for me. Keith and I went out on more patrols together, he took me to go get my prosthetic engraved on the calf with, **"Alley Cat and Fuzz Ball; we'll always be there for each other."** I smiled as I fingered the engraving as we walked out of the engraving store. I couldn't help but smile as he took my hand and led me down Union Road.

"_What's on your mind, Alley Cat?"_ I smirked at him.

"_Nothing really, just trying to get back into the swing of things, you know?"_ He smiled kindly.

"_Hey, I'm going to take a ride with Rapidash, I'll meet you up for dinner later." _I hugged him and the left to the hitching post.

I walked up to see Rapidash, I haven't seen him since Brighton. I walked outside and untied him, he was so excited to see me! I boarded him and that's when he noticed my leg, I assured him that it was okay and we rode to the top of the mountain that led to Hia Valley. We rode full-speed to the peak and enjoyed the view, I haven't rode like this since Wintown.

I stayed up there for about an hour, just looking at the white fluffy clouds across the pale blue sky. I looked over to my styler to see Nage voice mailing me, _"Kate. I need you to come back to the lab immediately! We found something!"_

I spurred Rapidash and sped down the mountain. I tied him to the post and ran into the lab, _"What's up?"_

Nage smiled, _"I think I discovered a way that can stop your hearing loss."_

I quirked my eyebrow, _"How is that? The doctor told me it was virtually unstoppable."_

"_That's where this comes in."_ He typed some codes in and the screen showed a fancy hearing aid.

"_This is what's going to keep me a Ranger? Another hearing aid?" _He looked at me like I was crazy.

"_This is a state-of –the-art hearing aid! I modified it-."_ Then Prof. Hastings came in.

I read his lips, "Thank you, but that's enough, Nage."

Nage scatted out of the room, _"Come with me, Kate."_

I followed him up to the Tree of Harmony, _"Kate, you are an impeccable Ranger."_

"_Thank you, sir. But why did you drag me all the way up here to tell me this?" _His once bright eyes turned weary.

"_Kate…that's not what I need to tell you. Kate…I'm officially medically discharging you, you are to leave tomorrow." _

Tears streamed down my face, _"But why, sir? You know this is my dream! This is what I've strived for my whole life!"_

He put a comforting hand on my shoulder, _"Kate, when you were in surgery, Erma and I talked. We decided that being a Ranger is too dangerous for you, and with your deafness, I just can't let you do this."_

I was boiling mad,_ "Too dangerous!? You let Keith, Sven, and Wendy do more dangerous missions than I do. Why the hell am I so special?"_

Hastings was furious, _"Because you're my granddaughter! I can't bear to see you get hurt! Now, there's no swaying my decision, Kate."_

I was heartbroken, _"Fine, why don't I leave right now so that you don't have to see my sorry face in the morning!"_

I calmly walked down the escalator to give the illusion that everything was perfectly fine. I walked to my room and gathered my stuff into my duffel bag. I wrote a note to Keith explaining what was happening when he walked in.

"_Alley Cat, what's happening?"_ I looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks.

"_Keith, I'm medically discharged. I'm to turn in my disc to Hastings tomorrow, I was writing a note to explain this all to you, I didn't have the strength to tell you in person."_

Keith was angry, _"They can't just discharge you! You're the best Ranger we have!"_

I smiled, _"Well now I'm not," _I took the capture disc from the styler and handed it to him,_ "Here, give this to Hastings for me, I might as well just go now."_

Tears came down his cheeks, _"I'll miss you, Alley Cat, more than anyone in the world."_

I couldn't help it, I went up on my tip-toes and kissed him on the lips. It was short, but it felt nice, like everything might be okay. I pulled away, grabbed my duffel bag, and started to sneak my way out of the building.

I ran into Nage as I was walking out, _"Kate, I know about your discharge and I wanted to give you this."_

He shoved the hearing aid into my hand and hugged me goodbye, I put in my ear and turned it on. I could hear, but at the moment, it didn't matter. My dream was abashed and there was nothing I could do about it. I walked outside and untied Rapidash and rode to Pueltown Harbor. I asked Captain Boyle to make a special trip to Fall City for me; he complied and 45 minutes later, I was in my home region.

I spurred Rapidash to run full-speed up the Krokka Mountain and onto Wintown. Hot tears fell upon my cheeks as I neared the frozen city. I wiped my cheeks as I sped past Wintown and onto Sekra Range. I saw my father in front of the 2-story ranch house that I called home. I jumped off the saddle and into his arms, "It's over, Daddy, it's all over! My dream…everything I hoped and dreamed about it dead!"

He rubbed my back, "I wish I could say that it's going to be okay, but I know it won't be for a while. But know something, darling, it will eventually get better, I'd bet that old truck on it."

I laughed as he led me inside, "Jamie's asleep since it's almost midnight and I don't know about you, but I'm bone tired." I smiled and laughed.

"Okay, Dad, I'll make breakfast." He looked worried, "Don't worry, Daddy, I'll just put on a brave face for Jamie."

He kissed my head and went upstairs as I sat down on the old leather couch. To think, I saved all of Almia and have to go through an amputation and a tumor to only be medically discharged because of my deafness, the one thing that people promised not to treat me different because. I laughed to myself about the ironic situation I was in. I laid down on the couch and tried to sleep away my troubles and problems.

**A.N. Wow, talk about more drama! What will happen next? Is there a way for Kate to become a Ranger again? What will happen at the Union? What will become of Keith after the kiss? Find out next on ****The Aftermath****! Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon and don't forget to review!**


	31. Back at the Union

**Back at the Union**

Keith's POV

After Kate kissed me and left, I just broke down. The one person that I truly cherished had been taken away from me by the organization that built her up. I sat on my bed and held the picture of the two of us when we were at Dream River on our first patrol. I was reminiscing over memories when Sven broke my reverie.

He ran in panting, "I heard the news from Marcus; is it true?"

I nodded solemnly, "Yeah…" I looked over at the clock which read 11 p.m. "She's probably in Wintown by now."

Sven just lost it, he punched a new hole in the wall. I had a feeling that this is what Wendy was talking about earlier.

"Sven, I'm pissed the fuck off too, but punching holes in walls won't do a damn thing."

"True, but it makes me feel better."

I laughed a bit, "Yeah, so now what do we do?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I just don't know."

I smiled as I set the picture back on the nightstand, "You really liked her, didn't you?"

I sighed, "I love her, Sven."

He smiled knowingly, "Oh, I know, Keith. I know."

He left the room while I still sat on my bed, it was still hitting me that my Alley Cat was gone. I tried to clear my head and think happy memories, but most of my happiest memories were with Alley Cat. I smiled at the first time I saw her and from then on until I fell asleep.

Kate's POV

I woke up to Jamie tugging my blanket off of me, "Hey Kate! Daddy told me that Prof. Hastings stationed you here! Isn't that great!"

I smiled as she tried to pull me off the couch, she was so optimistic, even if Dad probably told her the lie.

I got up off the couch and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I brought the fine-china plastic bowls with the exquisite meal of cereal and milk. She giggled as I told her about all that happened during my days at the Union and I showed her the prosthetic leg I had and the engraving.

Jamie ran her fingers over the engraving time and time again until she almost had it committed to memory. I got her dressed and made our way to Wintown where she would fly out to Ringtown with Lunick. I situated her little suitcase on the saddle and then helped her on the saddle. After everything was in place, we rode off to town.

I dropped her off at the base and stayed there until Lunick came by and picked her up. He gave me a sympathy hug before he and Jamie began the small trek back to Ringtown. I turned Rapidash around, but Elita stopped me.

"Kate, I know this is a difficult time, but bottling it up and hoping no one will notice isn't healthy."

I sighed, "I know, but I can't tell anybody really. I can't tell Jamie because she will get the idea that dreams only come true for people without disabilities and Dad doesn't really relate to this. Sure he went to Ranger School, but he didn't have the opportunities at the time since he was a mechanic. Nobody here really relates to my story, Elita."

"True enough, but I'll not let you wallow in that house alone. There's a closet door that Silent Chris accidentally locked from the outside and I need you to pick the lock." I smiled as I followed her inside.

I went up the elevator and down the hall to the room where the door was locked. I pulled out the pocket knives and started to work on the door. I picked the locks like an expert until the door gave way. I walked in and turned on the lights to see a bunch of filing cabinets with labels that were probably records of all Rangers in Fiore. I yelled for Elita to come to the room.

She rushed in and thanked me profusely as she checked the files. I left the base and headed back to my house where I saw my dad still working on that old blue truck back by the stables. I smiled as I walked over to him, "Hey, Dad."

He looked up at me, "Hey, sweetheart. What's up?"

"Nothing much, I just picked a lock for Elita at the base a while ago and I dropped Jamie off with Lunick. Apparently, she thinks that Hastings just stationed me here." Malice was dripping from my voice at the last sentence.

He wiped his brow with a rag, "I'm sorry about the lie, but I still wanted to give Jamie a little break from the harsh reality that's going on."

"I'm not mad about the lie, I'm pissed that Hastings medically discharged me! And for my deafness, the one thing he promised to never discharge me for!"

Dad ran his fingers through his brown hair, "Kate, he's trying to protect you. I know you hate his methods of doing it, but you can't change what happened."

"I know, Dad, but I just needed to vent this out before I blew up in front of everyone and ruin all slim chances of every being re-recruited."

He walked over and gave me a hug, "I know, Rider, I know. Say, how about you help me fix this old piece of crap?"

I giggled and nodded, then I realized something. This was the first time in almost a year that I had some father-daughter quality time. I smiled at the prospect of now having an even closer connection, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up just yet on my dream.

**A.N. Bet I fooled y'all! The aftermath won't happen for some time and I will be using this sort of plot line in my stories to come. Jut decoded o give y'all a heads up on what's coming your way! Don't forget to review! Disclaimer" I don't own Pokemon.**


	32. At Last I See the Light

**At Last I See the Light**

Kate's POV

A lot of events happened over the next 2 weeks; I had re-started my rodeo and riding lessons again, Dad went to Fall City to repair the generator in the Ranger Base there, and Jamie had gone to Summerland to spend some time with Cameron.

I woke up one morning to my alarm clock blaring at 6:30; I grabbed my usual attire and proceeded with the chores around the house. I vacuumed the entire upstairs which consisted of Jamie's, Dad's, and I's room along with 2 guest bedrooms. After that, I waxed all the wood flooring on the stairs, in the living room, and the kitchen. I polished all the leather couches and the wooden coffee table that stood in the middle of the room. Once that was completed, I washed and dried all the laundry and left the basket with the clean clothes on the base of the stairs.

I finished up at about 8:30 and ran out to the stables where I saw Rapidash who was still getting used to his old home. I saddled him up and we rode up Sekra Range until we reached the clearing where the small stadium was set up. I rolled up the large canvas coverings that protected the open stadium from the elements. I walked the perimeter of the riding arena to check for any problems when I heard footsteps approaching.

I turned around to see Spenser, "Hey, Rider. How's life?"

I chuckled at his attempt to make small talk, "As good as it could get when one gets fired."

A small frown made its place on his face, "I'm sorry."

I waved off his concern as I grabbed a broom and started to sweep under the seats, "Its fine, just took a while to adjust to the new lifestyle."

Spenser sat down in one of the seats, "So what all have you been doing, Rider?" 

I swept all the dirt out of the arena, I knew what he meant when he said that. He was asking about how I was making ends meet, "I re-started my rodeos and riding lessons, though frankly, not many people are coming in. Also, I've helped out Elita at the base and I have started giving tours through Sekra Range and up to Fiore Temple."

That frown was still set on his face, "And, uh, where's Jake?"

"He's in Fall City repairing a generator in the base, he'll be down there about a week or so."

"So you're all alone in that big ranch house?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry, I'm fine. It's not that bad, being alone gives me time to reflect on all that's happened."

A ghost of a smile traced on his lips and he put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "I swear, Rider, I'll do whatever it takes to get you back in action."

I laughed, "Don't fret about me; worry about your relationship with Elita. You need to propose to her soon; she won't wait forever."

He smiled as he walked out and said, "You little shit!"

"Love you too!" I called after him.

I aimlessly walked around for a few hours before deciding to close-up shop. I untied the canvas blinds and let them fall freely until they reached the floor. I hopped on Rapidash and decided to take a quick run up the mountain range. We carefully climbed over piles of rock, dirt, and trees, looking over my shoulder every few minutes to make sure that nobody was following us.

Once we reached the top, I slid off of the saddle and tried to take in the view. The sun was high in the pale blue sky, the dark green leaves of the forests below, the gentle breeze that whipped about my hair, and the ever graceful calls of bird Pokémon in the distance. I took a deep breath of mountain air and sat down on a large rock. I contemplated my feelings for him; I knew that I like him, but have my feelings for him grown to more than that or not? Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore; I'm not saying that he has moved on, Arceus knows he hasn't, but it's just that having a relationship wouldn't work. For starters, he's a Top Ranger and I'm a regular civilian, I don't want to be holding him back. Also, we live in 2 different regions! I'm not sure that I'm ready for that amount of commitment, we'd hardly ever see each other at all.

I shook my head as I stood up, maybe some things should be left alone. I climbed back on Rapidash and began our journey home. Once there, I filled a bucket of oats for Rapidash as I left him in the stables. I jogged over to my house and opened the door. I took off my boots and left them by the door and made my way to the kitchen. I began gathering ingredients for the fanciest dinner you can imagine: mac 'n cheese. As I put a pot of water on the stove, I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door to see a familiar face with green hair, "Hey, Rider."

I smiled and opened the door a little more, "Long time, no see, Wendy."

She walked inside and sat on one of the bar stools at the counter top, "I know this'll sound corny, but how's life treating you?" 

I laughed as I went over to the pot of boiling water, "Pretty fair, Dad and Jamie are going to be gone for about a week or so and I'm trying to restart my tours and rodeos."

"What about the riding lessons?" She inquired.

I shrugged as I poured the macaroni in the water, "I decided not to do them, and not a lot of people are interested anyway. Although I might do some during tourist season. You want something to drink?"

She nodded her head, "What have you got?"

I grabbed a coffee cup from a cabinet, "Water, milk, juice, Pepsi, and Coke; take your pick."

"Pepsi please." I nodded and grabbed a can from the fridge.

"So what brings you to my neck of the woods?" She chuckled as she poured the can into the mug.

"I can't say exactly, but for some reason Hastings wanted me to be stationed here for the time being to patrol. Rather than staying at the base, I decided to drop by and say hello."

I shook my head with laughter, "Well, you're welcome to stay here if you like. There's a guest room right next to mine that's open for use. Want some Mac 'n cheese for lunch?"

"Yes, though this feels weird." I quirked my eyebrow as I strained the noodles.

"Why?" She laughed after she took a sip.

"Because this is the first time I see you out of uniform and out of the Union."

I sighed, "Yeah, it does feel weird. How are things at the Union?"

She tensed ever so slightly, "I'll be the first to admit that we are a little high-strung without you. Sven has punched 2 new holes, Keith's lost his comedic charm, and I'm trying to keep everyone from killing each other!"

My eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, "Really? All this changed in 2 weeks?" 

She nodded, "I know, right! I swear their mood swings are worse than mine!"

"I had no idea, if me leaving affected them that much, why didn't they just face time me on my laptop? Surely it couldn't be that difficult for them."

Wendy laughed, "I'm sure they would if Erma wasn't piling patrol after patrol onto them."

"Wow…well, let's get you unpacked into the guest room." We walked outside to grab her things and convert the bed of the old truck into a roost for her Staraptor.

I helped her make the room more home-like and gave her a grand tour of the property. As we walked, I realized that this was the first time that Wendy and I had some actual off-duty bonding. Also, this was the first time I've had contact with the Union since my discharge. Perhaps, for now, things could start looking up for me.

**A.N. Howdy! I hope y'all like the chapter and like the break from all the angst and sadness that Alley Cat's going through, and don't fret (Wow…that sounds so British and proper) there'll be plenty of kick-ass action! Don't forget to review! Disclaimer: Pokemon, I do not own**


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